Carry Me Away
by Miss Peg
Summary: YOU DECIDE THE OUTCOME OF EACH CHAPTER! Sequel to 'Let It Go'. When the sun comes up, things don't always seem better. Full of angst, drama and of course a little bit of fluff...but you know me, so not much! :-P Sorry. Naomi&Emily
1. Chapter 1: When The Sun Came Up

**Disclaimer****: I do not own Skins, please don't rub it in. :-(**

**Author Note****: I was going to save starting this until after Christmas, more fool me, I can never let go that much. Haha. Excuse the pun. This sequel will hopefully allow for more development character wise. I'm really excited to share it with you actually. Emily is a little idea-less so if anyone has any thoughts where they're interested in any of the storylines/characters going, feel free to share. Also, voting is still something you can do in this story! :-D Enjoy.**

**I've been making a Skins advent calendar which I've been putting a new picture/caption up every day - if you want to have a look it's on my website, link in my profile. :-)  
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**Carry Me Away**

_Chapter One: When The Sun Came Up_

A stinging pain settled on Naomi's knuckles, deep red gashes lay across each bump, contributing to the pain. She stared at her hand, carefully brushed her other fingers against the injury until a voice pulled her from her daze.

'Someone will interview you shortly, I'll get someone to have a look at your hand too.'

Naomi nodded, jumping at the sound of the door closing behind her. She turned around, watched the small flap shut and she was left alone. She let her injured hand fall to her side, her other one reaching up to her cheeks to wipe the stray tears strolling down her face as she closed her eyes.

'_Save our store, stop global business, save our store, stop global business.'_

The last hour was imprinted in her mind. The protest; the shouting of each pre-determined line, the cheering along to the leader of the group, punching the guard who tried to stop them, just in time for the police to arrive and arrest anyone causing trouble.

She stared around the tiny cell. The walls were grey, looked like they needed a good paint job. A bench big enough to lie on sat against the wall, looking uncomfortable and uninviting thanks to a number of stains discolouring the plain surface. A pungent smell filled Naomi's lungs, made her insides contract until she felt sickly. She didn't know how long she was going to be in there, didn't want to think about how late she was going to be. She analysed the bench again, searching for the least disgusting patch upon which she perched, with the hope of resting her tired legs. She turned over her wrist, glanced at the time which only made her head begin to pound.

'Christ,' she called out, pressing her lips together and sliding the fresh tears from her cheeks.

As the minutes drew on, no sign of someone coming to talk to her, Naomi's mind wandered. She couldn't stop the unwanted thoughts of Emily's rejection nearly four months earlier, or the meltdown she'd suffered because of it. She tried to forget it, to push the thoughts out of her mind. But they were quickly replaced by thoughts of her mother; of Gina still wanting to marry Emily's dad. Knowing that soon enough they'd be married, and Naomi wouldn't be able to hide from Emily any longer, made the tears come down faster. Naomi covered her eyes, trying to forget that conversation she'd had with her mum barely a week after she got engaged.

_'I was going to go see Rob, do you want to come?'_

_'Oh,' Naomi had replied. 'No.'_

_Gina had perched on the edge of her bed, looking sadly at her daughter. 'I know this isn't easy Naomi.'_

_'He's your fiancé,' she'd muttered, knowing the importance of that fact. 'What can I do?'_

_'If this really makes a difference then maybe we could slow things down until you and Emily make peace.'_

She didn't think that would be possible then; knew that Emily wanted to be friends but nothing more. Naomi had tried to believe that things would work out, had hoped that Emily would have come around to tell her she'd changed her mind. Or that her feelings would have disappeared and she could handle just being friends. No such luck. In the end Naomi had avoided her at all costs, was thankful that Emily didn't return to college until after Christmas. Even begged Gina to spend Christmas Day just the two of them to avoid having to see Emily.

_'No,' Naomi had told her, not wanting to be the cause of any problems. 'You love him, you should get married.'_

_'What if I want to wait?'_

It was commendable, the way Gina wanted to fix things, to make everything easier for Naomi. But she'd spent seventeen years giving up her life to be her mother. Naomi knew then that it was time to let Gina have a life of her own. Even if that life meant Naomi had to face Emily.

_'You don't, you know that as well as I do. You and Rob are going to get married in March like you're planning to.'_

_Gina had patted the duvet where Naomi's leg was, a comforting gesture that made Naomi smile. 'Yes, well, I don't mind changing it for you.'_

_'No,' she had been adamant, didn't want to ruin her mother's chances. 'It's your wedding day mum, you should enjoy it.'_

The gold watch on her wrist read twelve-forty. Naomi's heart beat faster and her tears didn't subside. They were just twenty minutes away from her recent actions impacting on her mother, would stop her from being at the wedding when it was the most important day in Gina's life. She felt guilty, regretted going to the protest at all, but more than anything, regretted not accepting Gina's offer to push the wedding back.

*

The white dress hugged Gina's figure, emphasising her assets and making her dazzling smile look brighter. Katie let her lips curl at the edges, smiling up at the woman who was an hour away from becoming her step-mother.

'You look fantastic,' she grinned, tugging on a loose strand of hair to neaten it up.

Gina beamed back. 'Thank you Katie love.'

Everything was perfect. Rob was at home with his brother and dad getting ready, whilst Gina was assisted by Katie, Emily and her hairdressing friend. It was only a small ceremony, but Katie was happy to be there, was over the moon that Gina had wanted her to be standing up at the front with Emily and Naomi. It made her feel part of the family.

'You look amazing Gina,' Emily called as she entered the room, hoping her smile would be enough to make the blushing bride happy.

Gina just stared at her, cautiously. 'Where is she?'

'I don't know,' Emily sighed. 'She won't answer my calls, but that's not unusual at the moment.'

Emily rested a hand on Gina's shoulder, squeezing it gently as she let a sympathetic smile creep across her lips. She wished there was more she could do, wished there was a way to find Naomi and bring her back in time for the ceremony.

'I'll try,' Katie muttered, taking the house phone off Emily.

It took a few deep breaths for Emily to calm down as she watched Katie take control of the situation. They were very rarely forced together, required to spend time in the same space. Even at college, Katie and Naomi seemed to eat lunch separate to the rest of the group. She wasn't used to such close contact anymore, wasn't used to having to make small talk with the girl who was genetically her sister.

'No luck,' Katie informed Gina, to which the woman bent over, rubbing her eyes.

'Careful you don't smudge your make up,' Emily called, trying her best to be there for Gina.

Katie glanced from Emily to Gina. 'It's fine, we can re-do it.'

It had never been Katie's intention for her relationship with Emily to be even worse than it had been before they found out. She wasn't trying to avoid her, was simply being a good friend to Naomi who didn't seem to want to spend any time in her presence. She didn't understand the situation fully, just knew she couldn't force anything with Emily, until Emily made it clear that it was okay.

'You really shouldn't upset yourself though,' Emily tried, couldn't let Katie have the last word. 'Naomi will make it, she knows how important this is to you.'

Katie counted to ten, could see that Emily was fighting with her for attention, for whatever reason she didn't know. All she knew was that she didn't want to get into something, didn't want to make the competition that Emily seemed to have, become important when the only important thing was their dad's wedding.

'You really do look amazing Gina,' Katie smiled, pulling a make-up wipe out of a packet and cleaning up the smudged mascara.

Emily sent a glare towards Katie, before turning her attention to Gina. 'Would you like some champagne to settle your nerves?'

Gina nodded. 'That would be lovely, thanks.'

*

'Naomi, wherever you are, can you give me a call or better still, turn up!'

Gina paced back and forth across the front steps of the registry office. To say she was nervous was an understatement; she was a mess. It wasn't marrying Rob that was the problem, she was happy about it, more than happy and ready. There was only one person she wanted to be there other than her husband-to-be and that one person wasn't.

'Dad's inside, he says he doesn't mind waiting a bit longer until,' Emily exited the building, stopping when she saw the pained look on Gina's face. 'She didn't answer, did she?'

'This isn't like Naomi,' Katie muttered.

'Actually, it's exactly like Naomi.'

The perplexed stares from Katie and Emily were the last thing Gina needed. Her head was throbbing and she felt a migraine creeping up on her. Tears stung her eyes, which she held back. She wasn't going to cry again, she wasn't going to let it bother her.

'Did she tell you where she was going?' Katie checked.

Gina rolled her eyes, 'If she'd told me, would I be stood here waiting for her?'

Katie looked taken aback, which made Gina feel guilty. 'I'm just trying to help.'

'I know, I'm sorry,' Gina muttered. 'I woke up this morning and she had already left the house.'

Fifteen minutes passed. All Gina could do was search the street, hoping and begging that Naomi would turn up. There was no sign of her. Her nerves were wavering thin, her tears very close to falling once more.

'Any luck?'

Rob's voice filled the silence. Katie and Emily just shook their heads as Gina turned around, wrapped her arms around his neck and thanked him for being there. A layer of tears blurred her vision, but she didn't care. Being in Rob's arms was enough comfort.

'Maybe something's happened,' Rob suggested, holding Gina at arms length so that he could look into her eyes. 'I know she'd want to be here.'

'If she wanted to be here, then why isn't she?' Gina snapped, wiping her eyes and taking a deep breath.

'What do you want to do?'

Gina stared up at the sky. 'I don't know.'

The registrar wasn't willing to wait around forever, Gina knew that. She allowed Rob to take here inside where they sat together, their fingers interlinked between them. She prayed that Naomi would turn up, hoped that it wouldn't be long before Emily or Katie would come into the room with Naomi, or news of her whereabouts. In the end the registrar joined them, informed them they had just five minutes until they had to postpone.

'I'm so sorry Gina,' Emily informed her. 'She's still not here.'

'I phoned the hospitals, but she's not there,' Katie stated, sharing a sympathetic smile with Emily.

Gina nodded her head and maintained her composure. 'I guess there's nothing more we can do.'

'Does this mean we can get married?' Rob asked, sandwiching her hands between both of his.

Getting married had never been a major life goal. Gina prided herself on her independence and ability to live life without a man in it. She enjoyed the company of men, but she'd never needed someone as much as she needed Rob. The most important thing had been marrying him, showing her commitment to him in front of their family. It broke her heart to say it, knew it was breaking Rob's too when he narrowed his eyes.

'You don't want to marry me?'

'I can't do this without Naomi, I can't.'

Rob nodded. 'I understand.'

He didn't understand, that much was obvious. He looked just as broken. Gina regretted doing it, but there was no other way. She gave Katie and Emily a hug, thanked them for all of their hard work in trying to track down Naomi. Eventually she turned to Rob, slid her arms around his waist and held him for a while.

'We can rearrange, we'll get married another day.'

There wasn't much more to be said. Rob simply nodded, wrapping his arm around Emily as she comforted him. Gina hitched up the hem of her dress and walked out of the registry office. Rob called after her, begged her not to go, but she couldn't stand the thought of spending the day with him when she couldn't become his wife.

*

The interview didn't last long. Naomi didn't care that she was admitting to a crime, she was too distracted, too focused on what she was missing by being there. She needed to get out and quick.

'Do you understand?' the police officer asked.

'I can go?' she questioned, a bit too enthusiastically.

'Miss Campbell, I hope you understand the seriousness of this incident. The man you assaulted is fine but if he'd sustained a more serious injury, you could have been in a lot of trouble.'

'I know,' Naomi sighed. 'Can I go now? I'm late for my mum's wedding.'

'I'm sorry but we have to complete your paperwork first, it's going to take a few more minutes.'

Naomi raised her voice. 'I don't have a few more minutes, I'm already half an hour late!'

'Miss Campbell, this is a police station not a fast food restaurant. Sit down and we'll call you when we're ready.'

Naomi let out a long, deep breath, lowering herself into a chair in the waiting room. She watched a number of officers arrive with people in handcuffs. She subconsciously rubbed her wrists, remembering hours earlier when the metal bars wrapped around her own. The clock on the wall ticked by slowly, the hands now approaching two in the afternoon. A lump formed in Naomi's throat.

'Naomi Campbell?'

She stood up, stepped towards the desk where she signed a piece of paper. She tucking her lip nervously under her tooth.

'Do you know how long weddings take?'

The officer frowned. 'No more than half an hour if it's a civil service.'

'Christ,' Naomi sighed, rubbing her temples and taking a number of deep breaths.

The spring sun shone overhead as Naomi wandered out of the police station. She couldn't believe the time, couldn't believe she'd missed her mother's wedding for something so stupid. It was a beautiful day, a perfect day to get married. She pressed her lips together, tried to push away the onset of tears as she reached the front of the station.

'Hope you got away with it,' a voice called out, making Naomi turn around.

'They didn't charge me if that's what you mean,' she replied, falling into step beside the girl.

'I'm sorry, if I didn't invite you to this protest you wouldn't have got arrested.'

'It's not your fault Fem, I'm a big girl. I can miss my own mother's wedding all by myself.'

'Your mum's wedding was today?'

Naomi nodded, couldn't handle vocalising what she'd done. It hurt too much to think about. It hurt even more when she realised she was relieved that she didn't have to spend the afternoon with Emily. She'd made a mistake, a massive mistake that had impacted not only on her own life, but her mum's. She could have been in the station overnight, she could have been charged, she could have a criminal record. The whole thing was too much to comprehend.

'It's okay,' Fem muttered, her hand slipping into Naomi's with a gentle squeeze. 'She'll forgive you.'

Naomi shook her head. 'She's never been married before Fem, how can she forgive me for not being there?'

The girl's blonde hair blew about in the wind, she tugged it into a hair tie to stop it from getting in her face. Naomi stared at her, watched as she pulled a couple of strands of her purple highlights out until they sat neatly on top of the blonde. Naomi was relieved she was there, relieved to have someone with her when she was feeling so rotten.

'Come on, lets go back to mine, I've got a bottle of vodka with your name on it.'

A quick glance at her watch told Naomi it was nearly forty five minutes since the ceremony began. She'd missed it. There was no way she could take that back. She wondered if she should turn up to the reception, but realised there was no point. It would only make things worse. They needed to celebrate, to have a good party and if she turned up, she knew it would only cause problems.

'Okay, lets go.'

The university halls were only small, big enough for a single bed and not much else. Naomi didn't mind, she just wanted to get out of the cool breeze, wanted to get some alcohol into her body so that she could forget the disastrous day.

'You should think about applying here when you fill in your uni application,' Fem suggested, opening a bottle and handing it to Naomi.

Naomi took a long swig, relishing the burning sensation in the back of her throat. 'Maybe I will.'

'You'll be president of Student Union in no time.'

Laughter fell from Naomi's lips as she sat down beside Fem, handing her the bottle. 'Not sure about that.'

'Why not? You've got that stubborn political mind that's needed to fight for the things that matter.'

After a heated discussion on the ability to become Student President, Naomi lay backwards on the bed, enjoying the buzz she'd got from the alcohol. Fem lay beside her, their arms touching until Fem's fingers interlinked with Naomi's. She felt a chill run down her spine, bit her lip as the pale girl turned onto her side, leaning in so close that Naomi could feel her breath.

'Thanks for today,' Naomi whispered. 'I needed the distraction.'

'I can be more than a distraction,' Fem grinned, pushing her bright red lips against Naomi's, waiting for Naomi to react before sliding her tongue between her lips and deepening the kiss.

*

As soon as they arrived back at the house, Emily wrapped her arms around her dad's waist and waited for him to return the favour. When he didn't and instead pulled away, she felt her emotions waver.

'Dad?' she tried, wanting nothing more than to comfort her father.

'Do you need anything?' Katie asked him, pulling out a mug from the cupboard. 'Cup of tea?'

Rob smiled an awkward smile. 'Cuppa would be great, thanks.'

It wasn't a rejection of Emily, she knew it wasn't a rejection of her. It was just a bad situation. She didn't like to make it about her, but she couldn't help wonder why her dad didn't want her hug.

'I'll make it,' Emily muttered, taking the tea bags out of the cupboard and opening the box. 'I know how he likes it.'

Katie frowned at Emily, could sense the competitiveness creeping up once more. She took a deep breath, wanted to tell her that she also knew how their dad drank tea, but decided against it. Instead she sat down at the table and sorted a small pile of letters.

'I might give the tea a miss actually love,' Rob whispered, looking less than interested in anything going on in front of him.

'It's almost ready now.'

'I think I'm just going to go work out.'

Katie stood up, dropping the letters back into a pile. 'Do you want some company?'

'Yeah, maybe we could go for a walk?' Emily asked, smiling, her grin turning to a smirk as she glanced at Katie.

It felt rather childish and pathetic, the way Emily was fighting with her for attention. It made the whole thing feel uncomfortable, something that Katie didn't like. She hated to feel uncomfortable in any situation, wished that Emily would see that she didn't need to act that way.

'No thanks girls, I'd like to be alone.'

Rob loved the fact his girls cared, would have happily gone for a walk with Emily or worked out with Katie by his side. He wasn't really in the mood for company though. If he was honest, he wasn't in the mood to work out. The thought of being anywhere but his garage made him think of Gina, made him think of Naomi and what had happened. He forced a smile onto his lips, just to let them know he was doing okay, before he opened the garage door and left them alone.

'Nice one Katie,' Emily scoffed. 'He wanted to be alone, couldn't you see that?'

Katie rolled her eyes. 'You suggested going for a walk, he doesn't even like walking.'

'Yes he does!' Emily snapped. 'We always go walking together.'

'He prefers to run though.'

Being told what her dad liked or didn't like infuriated Emily. More so when it was Katie telling her. She didn't know where it came from, couldn't understand her desire to know more.

'I've known him a lot longer than you have Katie, I think I know what he likes.'

The last thing Katie wanted was to get into a fight with Emily, especially when Rob needed them to support him. She bit her lip, tried to stop herself from responding so that she could think of something else to say.

'Is it alright if I watch TV, or were you going to use the lounge?'

Emily shrugged, hadn't had any plans really. They were supposed to be at the labour club, celebrating the wedding in the function room. They were supposed to have plans that didn't involve sitting around watching television.

'Do you think she's okay?' Emily whispered, talking about not just Gina, but Naomi too.

Katie tilted her head. 'I hope she is.'

They shared a small smile, a tiny offering that made Katie smile even bigger on the inside. She hadn't been able to get close enough to Emily to learn more about her, but Rob talked about her a lot. His stories always made her smile, always gave her an idea about what her sister was like when she wasn't acting like a bitch. For the first time she was seeing the Emily that Rob talked about, the girl that he said cared about people even when they were having problems, something which Katie had never witnessed before. Katie nodded her head as she left the room and even though she didn't want to watch television she did so anyway, because she didn't know what else to do with herself.

*

The streets were dark by the time Naomi arrived home. When she pushed her key into the lock, she imagined her mother and Rob dancing the night away, wished she'd gone along to the reception even if it was going to cause a stir. She walked through the house, hanging her jacket up in the cupboard before heading for the kitchen. When she turned the light on she almost jumped out of her skin.

'Mum? Why aren't you at the reception?'

The whole thing came as quite a surprise, which was why she asked the question, didn't realise until Gina spoke, that it was a stupid question to ask.

'I was going to ask you the same.'

'I,' Naomi whispered, her voice failing before being quickly overshadowed by Gina's.

'It was my wedding Naomi,' she shouted, standing up, her wedding dress still wrapped neatly around her body. 'It was my fucking wedding, do you understand how important this day was to me?'

'I know,' Naomi cried, biting her lip to stop the tears from falling. 'I didn't mean to miss it.'

'You didn't.'

'What do you mean?' Naomi asked, confused by the harsh tone of Gina's voice.

'We didn't get married.'

Naomi's heart dropped, everything she thought had happened, hadn't and she knew, without being told, that it was because of her. She dropped into a chair, couldn't cope with standing any longer.

'Where were you?' Gina asked, her voice small but sharp.

'I went to a protest, I got caught up,' Naomi replied, scared to admit the truth.

Looking into her mother's eyes she could see the disappointment, the sorrow. It was difficult to stare into her eyes, but Naomi couldn't tear her gaze away. Until Gina pressed the button on the answer phone.

'Miss Campbell, this is Sergeant Smith from Avon and Somerset Police. We brought your daughter in concerning an incident at a protest.'

The message cut off when Gina pressed the button again. Naomi closed her eyes, could feel the tears sliding down her cheeks as she hid her eyes with her hands. She rested her head against the table, didn't want to face the world, even though she knew there would be no choice. Not when Gina was stood in the kitchen, on her wedding day, still wearing her wedding dress.

'I don't know what's happened to you recently Naomi,' Gina whispered.

Naomi sobbed into her arms. 'I'm so sorry.'

Gina took a deep breath. Naomi couldn't see her, but she could hear her moving. She felt her walk past her towards the door, knew she was going to leave because Gina didn't do confrontation well. Not when it effected her personally. It was hard to listen, hard to know what was going to happen, but what was even harder was Gina's voice sounding so broken.

'So am I.'

**Chapter One Voting Options:**

Twins 1) Emily struggles with how she feels when Katie gets through to Rob.

Twins 2) Katie struggles with how she feels when Emily lets slip how close her and Naomi became

Naomi 1) Emily's attempt to confront Naomi about the wedding is disrupted when Emily catches her in a compromising position

Naomi 2) Naomi struggles to reconcile with Gina when she realises she's less than forgiving

**TO HAVE YOUR SAY, REVIEW WITH YOUR CHOICES!**


	2. Chapter 2: Yesterday Is Gone

**Disclaimer****: I do not own Skins, please don't rub it in. :-(**

**Author Note****: I'm sorry that it's taken me a while to get the next chapter of this up, I was struggling with it as the ideas are still forming in my mind, which makes it a little difficult. Thank you soo much for the overwhelming number of votes & comments. I really appreciated them all so much.**

**Happy New Decade to you all! :-)**

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**Carry Me Away**

_Chapter Two: Yesterday Is Gone_

'She got arrested.'

Emily looked up from the newspaper she'd been reading, folded it up and dropped it back onto the table, busying herself with buttering a slice of toast. She didn't mean to eavesdrop, but she couldn't avoid hearing words she never expected.

'When?' Rob replied, his voice growing louder as he pushed the kitchen door open.

'When she was supposed to be at our wedding.'

Gina seemed to fall into Rob's arms, a reunion of two people so broken by yesterday's events that after hours apart there was no other option but to seek comfort in each other's arms. Emily shifted uncomfortably in her seat at the kitchen table. She liked Gina, it was difficult to watch her so visibly upset by what had happened.

'What did she do?' Emily asked, a piece of toast catching in her throat, making her cough.

Gina, her face almost broken with tears, stared at her, looked into her face with sorrow. Emily regretted speaking, didn't think it was the time or the place to be questioning her near-stepmother when she looked anything but okay.

Emily stood up, picked up her final piece of toast and dropped her plate into the sink. 'I'm going out.'

For the first time in months Emily felt emotions stronger than any she'd felt since being back on anti-depressants; anger, frustration, sympathy towards the one woman who treated her like a daughter. She felt protective over Gina, so protective that all she could think about was telling Naomi just what damage she had done to her own mother. They hadn't seen each other properly in a long time, they'd not even spent more than thirty seconds alone together and though it should have scared Emily to think of confronting her, her anger was stronger and seemed to diminish anything else.

*

The phone landed on Katie's bed so quietly that she had to turn around to check it was still there. A small grin spread across her lips. She still didn't understand how love could make you so happy all of the time, but it did. It didn't even matter why anymore, she was happy and that was all she cared about. As well as JJ, of course. A knock on her door made Katie look up from her dressing table, calling for whoever it was to enter the room.

'Are you still going to your dad's today?' Jenna asked as she pushed the door open, hovering in the doorway cautiously.

'No,' Katie replied, taking a deep breath as she informed her mother of the failed wedding attempt.

'Oh, I didn't realise.'

Katie picked up her brush and began running it through her hair. 'You were asleep before I got home.'

After a moment's silence, Jenna entered the room and took the brush from Katie's hand. She turned back to the mirror and watched the reflection of her mother brushing her hair. She let her smile return to her face.

'You look happy.'

'I am,' she grinned. 'Jonah and I are going out tonight.'

Jenna raised an eyebrow, 'That sounds nice. What time did you want to stay out 'til?'

'Probably not late, we're only going to Freddie's house.'

Katie watched her mother again, enjoyed the moment which reminded her of being a small child. She stared into Jenna's eyes, wondering what was in them, what she was thinking. They'd not really spoken again about anything that had happened, just seemed to brush most of it under the carpet like it mattered little to the present day. If Katie was honest, most of it didn't matter.

'What happened?' Jenna finally asked, smiling back at Katie, despite a look of curiosity hovering in her eyes. 'With your dad and his girlfriend?'

'Naomi didn't turn up,' Katie answered honestly. 'I'm worried about her, she's not been herself lately.'

Jenna raised an eyebrow, 'I know you think you know this girl, but you've really not known her all that long.'

'She's my best friend mum,' Katie sighed. 'I do know her.'

'I know you think so, but maybe you don't know everything about her. Maybe it's normal for her to be like this.'

A moment of quiet contemplation made Katie question her mother's thoughts. Maybe she was right. Maybe there was a side to Naomi that she'd not yet seen. The smile seemed to fade from her lips, causing Jenna's eyes to narrow. Katie turned to face her when she put the brush back down on the table.

'I'm just worried about her.'

'Maybe you should go and see her,' Jenna suggested. 'Go be her friend, find out what's going on.'

*

The door was unlocked when Emily pushed down on the handle. She wasn't in the mood to be turned away and when there was no answer on the door, she thought she'd give it a try. It surprised her, but she wondered if maybe Naomi was home and just didn't want to see her.

'Naomi?' she called out, walking through to the kitchen.

It was too quiet, so quiet that Emily suspected there was no one home. For the first time, she felt awkward. It wasn't her house and she shouldn't have been there. A noise from upstairs made her jump.

'Naomi?' she shouted, a little louder as she went back towards the front door.

It was just a noise, Naomi was probably watching television or something. Emily didn't think it would be a problem going up the stairs, stopping by Naomi's door, knocking and opening it before she heard the squealing. She hadn't expected to find Naomi, naked, with some girl's head in her lap.

'Oh fuck,' Naomi screamed out, her fingers curling up around the hair on the girl's head.

Her eyes were closed, pressed tightly together. Emily could feel her body shaking, her heart beating faster. She'd been stood there long enough, too long. It had to have been less than a minute. She turned around, hoping that Naomi hadn't seen her, wishing she could escape the room before Naomi had ever known she was there. Emily moved so quickly, turned so fast that she didn't notice the pile of books hanging precariously on the edge of the desk. It was too late. They'd already crash landed on the floor in front of her, provoking a number of loud screams from behind her.

'Fuck, Emily, Fuck.'

Emily turned around, her eyes filling with tears when she saw Naomi stood up, a blanket wrapped tightly around her body. The other girl now lay on the bed, pulling the duvet up to her chin. She couldn't stay there, she couldn't be with them any longer. Yet Emily couldn't seem to move, struggled to get her feet to start moving.

'I,' she whispered, trying to speak, trying to explain her presence. Words escaped her.

The blanket was warm, but it wasn't nearly big enough. Naomi rearranged it like a towel, tucking it carefully around her chest so that she could walk across the room without losing it. She glanced at Fem, willed for the situation to reverse itself and for Emily to be the one lying in her bed. She walked forwards, reaching an arm out to Emily, but before she could even get close, Emily had turned and walked out of the room.

'Emily, don't,' she shouted after her, running down the stairs and grabbing hold of her arm before she could open the front door.

'What the fuck are you doing?' Emily cried, her face red with tears and her eyes devastated.

'I'm trying to stop you from jumping to conclusions.'

'Jumping to conclusions?' Emily scoffed. 'What conclusions can I jump to? You were fucking some girl.'

'You didn't want me Emily,' Naomi replied, biting her lip to stop the tears threatening to fall. She sounded bitter, hurt. She hated herself for feeling so angry at Emily. 'You didn't want me.'

Emily's brown eyes disappeared under her eyelids, giving Naomi the chance to brush away a couple of stray tears. She didn't want to cry in front of Emily, she didn't want her to know how much it hurt her too.

'Is she the reason you ended up in a fucking prison cell?'

'What?' Naomi whispered, not expecting Emily to know.

Getting arrested had never been her intention, but Emily knowing about it was the last thing she wanted. Tears threatened to fall, making it harder to pull herself together. She didn't want Emily thinking bad of her, didn't want her assuming she knew the situation when she didn't.

'Your mum is devastated because you were too busy getting yourself arrested to go to her wedding. Do you know how upset she is?'

Naomi bit her lip, regretted it when she felt the skin break. 'I know.'

'If you know, then why the fuck did you do it?' Emily shouted.

'Fuck off Emily, you don't know a thing about what happened. You can't fucking judge me.'

Emily stared at Naomi, she was still angry, still so frustrated that she couldn't let up. The way she saw it, Naomi was in the wrong. That was all that mattered. Except that it wasn't. A look in Naomi's eyes, broken, confused. It made Emily's heart swell. She hadn't wanted any of this. She wanted to hate her, to get angry about the girl in Naomi's bedroom, but she couldn't. The whole situation was a mess. Naomi didn't look like she was dealing with any of it and though Emily wished the girl meant nothing to her, she couldn't help wonder if it would be fair to question why Naomi was moving on.

'Why are you doing this?' Emily whispered, her tears subsiding as she reached out, resting a hand on Naomi's cheek. 'Why are you acting like you don't care?'

'Because I don't,' Naomi sighed, pushing Emily's hand away.

It wasn't true. No matter how sincere Naomi had sounded, her eyes gave her away. Emily wished she couldn't see into the sparkling grey-blue orbs, didn't want to see the pain that still lingered in Naomi.

'I think you do,' Emily whispered.

'What would you know?' Naomi snapped. 'You don't fucking care about me, don't come over here acting like you actually give a shit when you clearly don't.'

Emily let out a faint whisper, keeping her eye's on Naomi's throughout. 'That's not true.'

It felt true. It had always felt that way. Naomi shook her head, told herself repeatedly in her mind that Emily was lying and that she just didn't care for her. It was easier that way, it was easier to believe that Emily didn't care, than to realise that she'd moved on without giving Emily a chance to come back to her.

'You wanted to fucking sort yourself out, you fucking did it,' Naomi spat out, letting her anger build up because it was her only defence against the pain she felt inside. 'You didn't want me there, you never wanted me there.'

'I did,' Emily sobbed, clawing at the inside of the legs of her jeans.

Naomi pulled Emily's hands away. Even after everything she couldn't bare the thought of Emily wanting to hurt herself. As much as she denied her feelings, she couldn't deny the fact that Emily in pain broke her heart. The thought of her hands playing with her trousers, even though the chance of them getting under the material, into the skin, scared her. She didn't know if Emily had stopped, if she'd really worked things out. She suspected she had. The Emily that stood in front of her seemed more together than the Emily who had fallen apart four months earlier. It didn't stop her worrying. Emily's brown eyes were still so watery, still full of tears that overflowed down her cheeks.

'I just had to look after myself.'

The devastation on Emily's face made Naomi's legs shake. She thought she was going to collapse, had to move to the edge of the stairs to hold onto the banister. She'd hurt Emily. She thought what she'd been doing, trying to move on, would help. That it would fix what was going on inside of her heart. Instead it had just hurt the girl she still loved, which hurt her twice as much.

'I'm sorry,' she whispered, her voice painfully quiet as she sat down on the bottom step.

Emily reached for the handle on the front door, pushed it down again, like she had barely twenty minutes earlier. She turned to face Naomi, nodding her head, before walking out of the house.

*

The little yellow house that Katie really loved came into view. She stared up at the slightly rotten frames, she always enjoyed visiting Naomi's house even if it did look like it needed a good paint job. Her smile quickly faded when she noticed Emily marching down the driveway towards the road, her face contorted in anguish.

'Emily?' she called after her, turning back to the house.

She'd come to Naomi's for a reason and that reason was still important, more important than anything else she'd planned to do that day. Except that Emily hadn't been crying when she'd set off to Naomi's. No matter how much she needed to be there for her friend, it was equally important to be there for her sister. Even if that sister didn't want her to.

'Emily wait,' she shouted after her, catching up as Emily stopped a couple of doors down. 'Are you okay?'

'Fucking fantastic,' Emily snapped, sarcasm present in her voice.

'There's no need to be like that,' Katie sighed. 'I just wanted to check if you're okay.'

It was disappointing, that after everything, Emily was still the same person she always had been. Too quick with her words to realise that Katie just wanted to help. If she was honest, it hurt. She'd hoped that maybe she'd grown up a bit, that everything between their family wasn't caused by Katie or her mother. Sometimes it was difficult to see how anything could get any better.

'I'm fine,' Emily muttered, quieter, as she wiped her red cheeks.

'You don't look fine, what happened?'

Emily rolled her eyes. 'It's none of your fucking business.'

'It is when Naomi is my best friend and you're my sister,' Katie sighed. 'I care about you, both of you.'

'Care about us?' Emily scoffed.

The last thing she expected from Katie was for her to care about her. They were sisters by blood and nothing much else. In the four months since finding out the truth, Katie had barely even spoken to her. It was difficult to understand why she wanted to care now. Emily rolled her eyes, taking a number of long, deep breaths in the hope of calming down. She patted the pockets on her jacket until she found her packet of pills.

'That bad?' Katie smiled, sympathetically.

Emily glared at her before popping a pill into her mouth. 'I have to take them regularly, same as any medication.'

'Oh right. You sure you're okay? You look well upset, I don't want you to hurt yourself or something.'

If anyone else had said it, Emily probably would have brushed it off with a response. But it was Katie. The girl who acted like she cared. Emily had questioned any attention that Katie gave her a number of times, had wondered if it was because she felt she needed to, or because she actually cared about what happened to her. Emily thought it was the former.

'I'm not going to fucking top myself, if that's what you think,' Emily snapped, not regretting her tone, even after Katie looked saddened.

'I didn't,' Katie began, before Emily cut her off again.

'If you must know I just found Naomi in bed with some stupid fucking girl.'

Katie hadn't even been listening properly when Emily spoke, was only expecting another snippy comment back. Her eyes narrowed, moving to Emily's face for confirmation of what she'd just said. She didn't want to believe it, couldn't bare to think of what it would mean if it was true.

'Y, you, you're lying,' Katie stuttered.

She didn't need Emily to tell her she wasn't. Something finally hit her. The way Naomi had been since Emily came out of hospital. The weird vibe between her sister and her best friend. It had been obvious that they had a relationship of some sorts. Katie always assumed it was friendship. Naomi had been pretty distant lately, seemed to spend a lot of time with some politics group she'd joined. Katie had thought maybe she was distracted by her political life, she didn't even suspect it could have anything to do with Emily.

'Like I'd lie about something like that,' Emily snapped. 'Why do you think I'm fucking crying?'

The red stains on Emily's cheeks made everything fall neatly into place. All there was now was for Emily to confirm what Katie didn't want to realise was true.

'Naomi is straight, why would she be with a girl? Why would that make you cry?'

'Are you fucking dim?' Emily snapped. 'I fucked her.'

*

When Naomi returned to her bedroom, Fem was still in the bed, tucked up under the duvet. Naomi bit her lip, hovering in the doorway as a million different thoughts passed through her head. She liked Fem, she was a nice girl who accepted her for who she was. Under any other situation she could have seen herself falling for her, hard. But it wasn't any other situation.

'You should go.'

Fem sighed, 'What? I thought we were having fun.'

'We were, but I think you should go.'

Fem's eyes narrowed. 'What's going on Naomi?'

'What do you mean?'

She rolled her eyes, making Naomi turn away. 'I thought you wanted to be with me, yet you're running off after someone else like we weren't just about to sleep together.'

'It's just not going to work, okay?' Naomi muttered, sitting down with her back to the girl.

If she hadn't just pushed Emily away further and so made herself feel even worse than she had, she probably would have happily curled back up in Fem's arms. Part of her still wanted to feel her tongue sliding into her mouth or press her hands agains her body. But she couldn't do it.

'For fuck's sake Naomi, it's not like I don't know you're in love with someone else. I assume that's her. This has never been about us fucking falling in love or anything. It's just a bit of fun.'

'Maybe I don't want any fun,' Naomi sighed, letting her head drop into her hands.

Fem's hands rested on Naomi's back, sliding around her shoulders until Naomi was forced to lift her head. The feel of someone close, someone's arms comforting her in such a way, made her perk up. She turned around, sliding her hands around Fem's back, pushing her lips against hers until they were kissing again, the blanket slipping away from Naomi's body until their naked forms pressed up against each other. When it was over, Naomi felt empty. She couldn't seem to feel a thing, least of all any feelings towards Fem. She'd given herself over to her, allowed her to break down the defences she'd put up only to find that none of it even mattered.

'I think you should go,' Naomi whispered, her voice monotonous as she climbed out of the bed and slipped into some clothes.

*

Katie wasn't homophobic, she knew she wasn't. But she wasn't sure if she liked people being gay. She always thought men and women were meant to be together and anything other than that, well, she couldn't understand it. She'd almost forgotten that Emily was gay, they'd been so distracted discovering they were sisters that Katie hadn't had time to process the fact that Emily was one of the people she couldn't understand. She wondered if that was the reason they couldn't seem to get along.

'I'll see you around, thanks for fucking nothing.'

The voice shouting nearby pulled Katie from her thoughts. She jumped to her feet, turned in time to see a blonde haired girl with odd coloured highlights exiting Naomi's house. It hit her, the truth. The fact that Naomi really had been in her room with some girl. Part of her didn't want to believe it, tried to think that Emily was making it up. But she couldn't deny what she was seeing; the girl was still pulling her t-shirt down around her waist.

'Sorry,' Naomi whispered after her, her hair dishevelled, a pair of pyjama bottoms covering her legs.

There was no way that Naomi was gay. Surely Katie would have already known that by now. They were supposed to be best friends. Katie felt overwhelming feeling of resentment towards Emily, frustration that she'd known first. That Naomi's secret life hadn't made its way to Katie, but instead to her sister. They'd been together after all. Together. Katie couldn't even grasp what together meant for two girls. She took a deep breath, tried to stop her heart from racing so fast as she caught sight of Naomi staring back at her.

'Oh, hi.'

Words seem to catch in Katie's throat. She wanted to speak, there was so much she wanted to say. 'Why didn't you tell me, about you and Emily?'

Naomi's blonde haired moved about as she glanced down, looked away from Katie. She didn't know what the girl was doing there, but she suspected maybe she knew more than Naomi had ever told her. There was a look on her face, like a rabbit caught in the headlights, that even from a distance, was visible. It made her shift uncomfortably on her feet.

'What else don't I know about you?' Katie muttered, her voice cracking under the strain.

Naomi took a deep breath, rubbed her wrist subconsciously. 'I got arrested at a protest, that's why I wasn't at the wedding.'

A deep breath seemed to make Katie grow then shrink. 'Why don't I know any of this?'

Naomi felt guilty. She should have told her, she should have told her everything. She didn't know why she hadn't. 'I guess I didn't want you to know.'

'Do you even want to be my friend?' Katie sighed, her chest feeling harder to move with every breath.

'I do.'

Pushing a few tears from under her eyes, Katie stared deep into Naomi's eyes, silently breaking her down in the hope that she could understand just what she was feeling. It was like staring at a brick wall.

'I'm not sure if you really know what it means when your actions speak differently.'

Naomi's eyes narrowed, her glance moving away from Katie. She didn't stop looking at her, wishing that Naomi would say or do something in response. But minutes passed by and neither of them said a thing. Katie clearer her throat, muttered a brief goodbye before walking away.

**Chapter One Voting Options:**

Naomi 1) Naomi pushes Gina further away when she gets hurt.

Naomi 2) Gina won't let Naomi in when Naomi realises the mistakes she's made.

Twins 1) Emily's jealousy pushes her closer to Effy when Katie and Rob spend time together at the gym.

Twins 2) Rob, Katie and Emily spend time together at the gym, but the twins push each other further apart, which makes things harder for Rob.

**TO HAVE YOUR SAY, REVIEW WITH YOUR CHOICES!**


	3. Chapter 3: Look Into The Mirror

**Disclaimer****: I do not own Skins, please don't rub it in. :-(**

**Author Note****: I started a new job which is why this has taken me a while to get up, busy busy and all. Thank you to everyone who voted and for the reviews, I really appreciate all comments and feedback.**

* * *

**Carry Me Away**

_Chapter Three: Look Into The Mirror_

She'd made a mistake, a terrible mistake. It followed a long line of equally bad mistakes that stretched out almost four months. It all started when she thought things with Emily would bad fine but they weren't. She spent a week in bed, wallowing, feeling like her head was about to explode. By the time December was over and she returned to college after the holidays, she wasn't any happier or more ready to see Emily. Yet there she'd been; a perfect vision of red hair, a little duller than usual. Her eyes quite lifeless as she walked through the college corridors.

She was Emily, but she hadn't looked much like the girl she'd curled up in bed with. Seeing her reminded Naomi of the first mistake she'd made; sleeping with her. She hadn't really had boyfriends in high school. She'd kissed a couple and she'd fooled around with one of them, yet the moment they tried to sleep together he had become over excited and it never actually happened. Emily was her first. Her _only_. And that was where her mistake began to unravel her life like a ball of wool.

_'You better now babe?' Cook called out to Emily by her locker, his stupid grin plastered on his face._

Naomi hadn't wanted to be there, to be stood a few lockers away wishing she could fall through a black hole. She hadn't seen Emily in almost six weeks yet somehow time didn't heal old wounds. So she made her next mistake. She went out that night, got so drunk she could barely stand up and had to rely on the kindness of a stranger. _Fem_. She was elusive, beautiful and obviously gay. She didn't know why she'd ended up at a gay club, but she had.

Another mistake had been agreeing to meet her again for a coffee. She didn't really want to go but there was something about her that left her feeling like she wanted more, so she went. They got along; they shared a love of politics, of saving the world one protest at a time and it was easy to forget that Emily ever existed.

Her biggest mistake after Emily, was kissing Fem. She didn't even seem interested at first, they were just two friends having a good time. But Naomi had a bad day. She'd spent three hours in a double lesson for history to work on coursework, three hours with only a couple of short fag breaks, three hours with Emily sat behind her, her eyes burning holes in the back of her head. So when she saw Fem she'd needed more than a political conversation, she'd needed something to take her mind off life. Fem was always smoking spliffs and for once Naomi accepted the offer, sucked in the drug until she actually felt sick and threw herself at the girl. Thankfully she responded and before she knew it, their hands were up each others tops, fooling around. It would have gone further had Naomi not stopped it, sobering up considerably when Fem's hand slid into the waistband of her skirt, disappearing into her underwear.

_'Stop,' Naomi called out, grabbing her wrist. 'I'm sorry, I can't, not right now.'_

It hadn't mattered, she'd said. It was okay to take your time and go slow and Fem was fantastic at going slow, she was undoubtedly the best kisser Naomi had ever come across both male and female and even though she longed to feel Emily's lips pressing against her own, it was a fair replacement.

Naomi's latest mistake, actually sleeping with Fem, was one she couldn't take back. She was officially not straight, whatever that meant. She'd spent a while denying to herself the truth. After Emily, she told herself it was a moment of insanity, a brief blip in the time-space continuum. But with Fem, it was obviously not a blip, it was a pattern. Two girls she'd kissed, two girls she'd had sex with. But being with Fem didn't stop the continual ache in Naomi's chest, an ache that stopped her normal life continuing, a shoddy shadow of the previous, existing instead. She sat at her desk, brushing her hair, trying to do something different, but there wasn't a lot she could think of. It was morning, college was about to start again for another week and no matter how hard she tried to forget that fact, she couldn't.

'Morning love, do you want some pancakes?' Gina offered with a half-smile when Naomi entered the kitchen.

'No I don't,' Naomi snapped. 'You can't make the world better by making pancakes mum, I'm not fucking five.'

The harsh tone was regrettable and when Gina's eyes filled with tears, Naomi actually felt bad. She just couldn't find the words to apologise, to take it back. She willed herself to walk over to her, wrap her arms around her back and pretend she was five again. At five she'd been a moody cow, nothing really changed there, but she was also painfully shy and school had been difficult. Every morning Gina would wake up early just to make pancakes in the hope of cheering her up enough to send her off to school. It worked, for the most part. Pancakes were her comfort food. But lately nothing comforted her.

'Just cos you're fucking depressed, doesn't mean I am,' Naomi snarled, before rushing back out of the kitchen with a banana in hand.

Naomi hadn't seen Katie since 'the incident', she wasn't sure what to say or do to make things better. She was her best friend, but admittedly, she hadn't actually allowed her to be a friend. Naomi had stayed away, tried her best not to remember that Katie was in fact Emily's identical twin sister. She couldn't explain that to Katie though, not then. She didn't even think she'd be able to do it now. She walked through college, hovering by Katie's history lesson in the hope of seeing her. When she did, it was awkward. Katie looked at her, her eyes narrowing with a mixture of confusion and an emotion that Naomi couldn't quite make out. It hurt, to see her so unfriendly and disconnected from their relationship.

Lunchtime wasn't much better. Emily beat her to group table, she just sat down opposite Effy and they started talking to her like they were best friends. Maybe they _were _best friends. Naomi didn't know, she hadn't sat with the group for a long while. She hadn't sat with anyone. In fact she usually just grabbed a sandwich and chain-smoked for the whole lunch hour. It wasn't that she wanted to be alone. She just didn't have any other friends. Once in a while Cook would smoke with her and they'd talk about something stupid and shallow before going about their day again. It took a few weeks for Naomi to realise that she was alone. It wasn't the first time, she was known as a loner, she'd hoped it would be different in college. But things hadn't really changed, she hadn't grown enough to make friends, which left her pushed out of the group she had been in, alone once more.

*

Emily had been to the gym before, not really to work out, just to sit in Rob's office or meet him after work. It was a nice place to be, the people were always very friendly and though working out wasn't Emily's favourite thing, she didn't mind a private session in the pool once it closed.

'Sorry I'm late,' Katie called out, giving Rob a quick hug and glancing at Emily with uncertainty.

'That's alright love,' Rob grinned. 'You go get changed, we'll see you in a minute.'

The look on Rob's face made Emily roll her eyes. She hadn't even done anything and already he was judging her actions. She picked up a magazine and started flicking through it.

'You'll be nice to her, won't you Ems?'

'If she's nice to me,' Emily whispered, throwing the old issue back onto the table.

'She's your sister, it's time the two of you started realising that neither of you is going anywhere.'

Emily was about to speak, to defend herself when Katie emerged in her workout gear. They shared a brief, awkward stare before Katie pushed a smile onto her face and they followed Rob to the gym floor.

'Come on Em, keep up,' Rob called, cycling along at a steady pace.

'I'm doing, the best, I can,' she panted, her heart rate speeding with the exertion of exercise.

'This is well fun,' Katie grinned.

The level of exercise was too much for Emily; she kept going, pushing herself further and further in the hope of keeping up. She didn't want Katie to win, didn't want her to still be okay even though she was. Eventually Emily's legs gave out, having pushed herself a little too far. She rested her arms and head on the handles of the bike machine, gasping for breath.

'You okay love?' Rob grinned, still cycling along at a steady pace.

'Fine,' Emily moaned, resting for a minute before climbing off the bike and drinking half of her bottle of water.

She spent the next half an hour sat on the floor, wishing she hadn't pushed herself so far just to keep up. She wasn't athletic, she'd always known that. Even Rob knew that and he tried his best regularly to get her to the gym.

'That was fantastic,' Rob grinned, climbing off his bike and wiping the sweat from his face. 'I need to check that Billy's still here, you girls'll be alright for a minute, won't you?'

They nodded as he waked out of the room. Emily took another sip of her water, keeping one eye on Katie as she opened her own.

'Why do you have to be so good at everything?' Emily snarled, regretting her harsh tone instantly. She didn't want to be horrible, she just couldn't seem to hold her tongue whenever Katie was around.

'Why do you always have to be such a bitch?' Katie snapped back, sitting down beside her.

'I'm not a bitch,' Emily told her, her emotions pushing tears to the surface. She shot them down, squeezing the plastic bottle in her hands to stop her rage taking over.

Katie rolled her eyes and leant back against the wall. 'I don't really understand you.'

'You don't need to,' Emily muttered.

'We share a dad, we're going to be spending time together,' Katie reminded her. 'I think I do need to understand you and you need to understand me.'

She was right. Emily couldn't deny that, even though she searched for something that would let her. Eventually she gave up, turning to Katie with a slightly impatient look on her face.

'What don't you understand?'

'Why you're so mean for one? Then there's the gay thing.'

A number of different emotions hit Emily all at once. She could feel her chest constricting, her body growing weak. She didn't want to feel that way, but she silently thanked her medication for helping her to control things better. It still hurt, a deep seeded sea of emotions that she knew had less to do with Katie and more to do with what happened in school.

'The gay thing?' Emily whispered, picking at a loose thread on her t-shirt. 'You make it sound like a disease.'

The silence that followed was more awkward than Emily had ever thought it could be. A moment of painful silence that broke through any sign of truce that may or may not have been coming with Katie.

Katie bit her lip, placing her bottle on the floor between them, which made Emily look up. 'I've never met anyone who's gay before.'

It explained a lot. Emily looked at her, let her eyes meet her sister's, brown on brown. They'd never looked at each other before, not really, not properly. She couldn't help notice the guarded look in Katie's eyes; the worry, the concern. Emily frowned. Something was changing between them and even though she tried to stop it, it just took over.

'So you think I'm some stupid fucking weird dyke or something?' Emily asked, knowing it wouldn't help.

Katie shook her head, looked away. 'Every time we seem to get anywhere, you come out with a stupid comment like that.'

'It's right though, isn't it?' Emily asked.

'No,' Katie replied. 'But what's right is Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve.'

Before Emily could respond, Rob returned with a handful of energy bars. Emily took one gratefully, eating it ravenously in the hope she could stop herself from saying all of the things that came to mind.

*

Uncle Keith's pub was too noisy, smelt like someone had been sick and seemed to be the average local elderly man's retreat for the evening. Naomi slid into a seat beside Cook, gritted her teeth when he commented on the height of her top and suggested lowering it.

'Fuck off and buy me a drink,' she ordered, removing the bag from her shoulder and passing a smile greeting across the table to Effy, Freddie and JJ.

'Keith,' Cook shouted across the room. 'Can I get another pint, one, two, three, four, five, fifteen shots and a whisky when you've got a minute.'

'Alright kid, as long as you've got a bit of the, you know,' he replied, rubbing his fingers together.

'Don't you worry about that Keithy, just bring us the drinks and we'll settle the tab.'

'Do you even have any money Cook?' Freddie asked, with scepticism.

'Nah, but don't you worry your pretty little head about things Freds, we'll be a'right.'

Naomi rolled her eyes, wondered why she'd even bothered joining the group on a rare occasion that Emily wasn't there. She watched with mild amusement as all three boys stared at Effy, leering towards her like puppy dogs, their tongues hanging out and their glares obvious. Effy seemed to be aloof, barely noticing the way they all stared. Yet knowing Effy, Naomi assumed she knew all to well the affect she was having on their male friends.

After becoming comfortably drunk, Naomi went into the toilets, found them it disgusting to even stand in them, let alone pee and disappeared into the beer garden for a cigarette.

'Fucks sake,' she groaned when Effy, Cook and Freddie emerged with a couple of spliffs, wished for just a few moments in peace.

'And then I says to her, what the fuck are you looking at me like that for? I ain't gonna shag you.'

'That's horrible Cook,' Freddie laughed and though Naomi didn't have a clue what they were talking about, she realised that she didn't actually care.

'Where's JJ?' she asked, biting her lip and accepting a drag of the spliff that Effy handed over.

'Inside,' Freddie replied. 'More old codgers turned up, didn't want them nicking our table.'

Naomi muttered something to them, not even sure what she was saying herself as she walked across to the side entrance. She pulled out her phone, pushing it against her ear after dialling Fem's number. She _liked _her, she did. In a weird sort of way. They were similar, their interests made them similar and Naomi had always been grateful to her for that. She waited patiently, grinding her teeth so hard that her jaw started to ache.

'Pick up your fucking phone,' she shouted, glancing warily at the group, thankful that none of them seemed to notice her frustration. 'Look, I'm fucking sorry alright, but how can I apologise if you won't answer my calls? I didn't mean to hurt you, if I did. I just, things with Emily, they're fucked up alright. I like you and I don't even fucking tell people that usually. I have had a bit to drink and shit so maybe it's loosened me up or something, but for fucks sake Fem, just call me or something.'

When Naomi was done, she returned to the group, or what was left of it. She tucked her lip under her tooth and hesitated in front of Effy, the brunette staring back at her with saucer eyes and a smouldering stare. She was quickly reminded of Emily, of her obsession with Effy in the first few weeks of college and how much Naomi hadn't understood it. But she was stunning, Naomi noted. She had an 'I don't give a shit' look about her, yet still managed to look like she was ready for a party, even if she'd just thrown on the nearest item of clothing. Naomi cursed herself, bit her lip a little too hard to push the thoughts from her head. She didn't like Effy like that, she didn't like Emily like that, not after what had happened and even though she'd said quite the opposite, she was pretty sure she didn't like Fem like that either.

'What you staring at?' she moaned.

'Nothing,' Effy smiled, placing a cigarette into her mouth and puffing out the smoke.

'You're staring.'

'I was looking,' Effy replied.

'Well can you fucking look someplace else?'

Effy just raised her eyebrows, not removing her gaze from Naomi for a second.

'Fuck off Effy.'

'Was that your girlfriend on the phone?' Effy asked, making Naomi's knees shake.

Nobody knew about her and Emily, except Katie. She doubted she'd tell the world. But she wasn't even talking about Emily.

'I'm not fucking gay,' she snapped, wondering what the sex with Emily and Fem meant, if she didn't at least like girls.

'Sure,' Effy smiled, accepting her answer, though they both knew that Effy didn't mean it.

'Which one do you like best?' Naomi asked, looking towards the door in the hope of distracting the conversation from herself.

Effy shrugged. 'They all like me, they're all friends. Cook's the only one who's got anywhere.'

*

'I'm sick of this,' Katie snapped, unable to hold back her frustration any longer. Emily had been anything but nice to her for too long, she wasn't getting any better and Katie wasn't going to stand by and put up with it.

'Of what?' Emily asked.

'Of you being a complete bitch to me. What did I do? What have I done that is bad enough for you to treat me the way you have been doing?'

'Fuck off Katie.'

'No, I won't. I don't care if you don't like that I exist or that I'm taking up time with _our_ dad. I'm not going anywhere, so it's time you just accepted it and moved on.'

'You think it's that simple?' Emily asked. 'How would you feel if some stranger came into your life and started spending time with your mum?'

Katie rolled her eyes. 'Are you stupid? I'm in the exact same position as you. Except that dad is able to enjoy the company of both his daughters, whereas mum is sat at home twiddling her thumbs every time I go out with dad.'

'You think I care?'

'God, Emily, I might have pegged you for a lot of things, but I didn't peg you as selfish.'

'I'm not selfish.'

'Except that you are. Mum wants to spend time with you, she wants to get to know you. But you don't care, you don't care if she's happy or if she's depressed, do you?'

'Why should I?'

'She's your mum!'

'No she isn't,' Emily snapped. 'My mum wouldn't leave me when I'm sick in hospital, wouldn't just disappear without a word when I'm a fucking baby.'

'You know why that happened.'

'Yeah, cos she's selfish. Are you forgetting that she left you too?'

She'd tried to forget about that, didn't want to remember that her mother had abandoned her for a year of her life. It was too much to bare, too big a thought that it hurt to even give it the time of day.

'You're such a fucking cow,' Katie retaliated, couldn't stop the swearing coming from her mouth because it was too painful to contemplate what Emily was saying. She picked up her bag, slung it over her shoulder as she marched out of the changing room.

Katie's vision turned black, her face colliding with smelly material that seemed to find its way into her mouth. She coughed, stepping backwards until she could see into the eyes of a tall, perfectly formed young man. Katie's knees gave way, weakness taking over her body until the man's hands wrapped around her waist, his fingers pressing against the skin on her hips.

'Sorry,' he smiled, his grin gleaming, huge and full.

'Oh, I,' Katie stuttered, her eyes locking with his green ones. She stared into them, losing herself in his warm expression.

'I didn't mean to, I'm sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going.'

'It's, okay,' Katie replied.

The hazy fog lingering in her brain stopped her thoughts from working, pushed her anger away, sent all things flying out of her mind until she found herself gasping for breath.

'Are you okay?' he checked, his voice deeper than she'd realised, a thick Scottish accent taking moments to process.

'Yeah, yeah,' Katie whispered, taking further steps backwards, wondering why she hadn't noticed his hands still wrapped around her sides.

'Aren't you Rob's daughter?' he asked, his brow furrowing slightly. 'Emily, isn't it?'

Katie looked away, turning her gaze downwards to avoid his eyes. 'No, his other daughter, Katie.'

The guy responded, talking about Rob, about working there at a gym. Katie couldn't understand what he was saying, didn't allow herself to process his words as her eyes lingered on the area of his sweatpants that she knew she shouldn't look at. She shook her head, thoughts of JJ flooding her mind until she found her eyes closing, guilt setting in.

'I, I have to,' she mumbled, turning around, her foot catching on the bag beside them causing her to stumble against the floor.

*

She didn't even know why she'd left the house that night. Naomi continued to sit in the beer garden long after Effy had returned to the pub. It was cold and there was a little bit of rain lingering in the air, but it didn't matter. She just wanted to be alone. The mobile phone turned over in her hand as she awaited impatiently for a call she knew probably wouldn't arrive.

'Thought you'd left,' Cook announced after he appeared beside her, perching on the edge of the picnic table.

'No.'

'If you just wanted to be alone, why didn't you say so?' Cook leered. 'Bit cold out here for a willy-waggle, but I won't say no to you Blondie.'

Naomi bit her lip, tucked up carefully under her tooth, processing what he'd just said. She wasn't gay; Emily and Fem were just accidents, things that happened because she was fucked up in the head. But that didn't mean she wanted to sleep with Cook.

'Fuck off,' she called.

'I ain't going nowhere, run out of fags and I know you've always got a packet.'

Throwing the half empty packet at Cook, Naomi lifted her legs up onto the seat, she didn't want to be there. She didn't want to be anywhere. She was so sick of life, of everything in it and Cook's presence wasn't making it any easier.

'For fucks sake,' she called out, closing her eyes as she contemplated her recent relationship woes.

Emily was still the bane of her existence, a blotch of red wine on a cream carpet, a grey hair on an otherwise dark haired head. Naomi let out a breath, wondered why she even cared that Fem hadn't called her back. What did it matter anyway? She wasn't willing to go back there, wasn't willing to jump into bed with another girl again. It just hurt too much, it hurt all the time to even think about Emily, let alone her feelings for Fem.

'I'm always here Naomikins,' Cook shrugged, taking a cigarette from the packet.

She didn't know why she did it, didn't know why she turned around, pressing her hands around Cook's neck until their tongues played together in their mouths. She helped move him up until he was seated beside her, his fingers slipping quickly into the waistline of her skirt before she could tell him not to. It was rough and careless. They moved around until Naomi was lay on the table, her back cold against the damp surface. Cook's hands slid into the front of her skirt, reaching into her underwear before she could process the action.

'No,' she gasped, memories flooding back of Emily's fingers tracing over the same place.

'It's alright babe, don't you worry.'

But she did worry. Her mind faltered, stopping on Emily's face, on Emily's touch. She couldn't breath, the feel of Cook's fingers on her skin making tears slide down her cheeks until she began to sob. Cook's hand moved away, his body weight shifting as he stood up.

'You're not,' she gasped, wiping her eyes, forcing control over her emotions. 'I can't, I love someone and it's not, it's not right. I don't fucking do love or liking and I just don't know, I just don't know.'

'It's okay babe,' Cook assured her, resting a hand on her shoulder, his other grabbing at his crotch. 'Bit excited but sure I can find some other bird to spank my monkey.'

Naomi snorted, tried her best to stop the tears from forcing their way back to the surface. She straightened out her clothes, thanking Cook repeatedly.

'Don't worry about it, yeah? It's fucked up love, ain't it? If I was you, I wouldn't bother, you only gonna get hurt.'

Naomi tucked her lip under her tooth, pressing down harder than she wanted. 'I guess.'

Eventually he left her alone. Her thoughts consuming her energy as she perched against the table. _Alone_. It was what she'd wanted, to be alone, to have only her own company. It was what she always thought she needed. But if she was honest, alone was the last thing she wanted. The alcohol was still buzzing in her system, effecting her clear thinking. The phone in her hands was too tempting, she pushed down on the buttons, scrolling through her contacts until she pressed call.

'Not gonna pick up your phone you fucking coward?' she snapped. 'You fucking broke my heart, do you understand that? I don't fucking love anyone, but you broke my heart and now you're acting like life is wonderful for you and you've moved on. Well it's not so fucking easy for me. You fucked with my mind, Emily, I don't even fucking want to see you again.'

*

Impatience was Emily's middle name. She spent a week pacing the house until her seventh birthday party. At thirteen, she tapped her foot so much over the space of one weekend that she was sure her ankle hurt. She hated waiting, hated having to sit somewhere without anything of interest to occupy her time with. She reached for her mobile, noticed the missed call and voicemail, which she quickly listened to. A number of tears crept into her eyes.

'_You fucked with my mind, Emily, I don't even fucking want to see you again.'_

She gasped, choking on tears as she processed Naomi's words. They were slurred slightly, alerting Emily to the possibility that she was drunk. The whole situation was messed up. She hadn't wanted it to be this way, hadn't wanted Naomi to move on and end up such a mess. There wasn't much she could do about it. Things had changed, Naomi didn't want to see her again and even though it had been Emily's choice to let go of their budding relationship, it still hurt to know that Naomi had finally given up.

'Emily,' a voice whispered with concern.

Her chocolate brown eyes looked upwards, connected with a pair that were too similar to her own. Emily could feel her rage building, the mother that had abandoned her, stood right in front of her, looking like she actually gave a damn.

'Fuck off,' she muttered, wiping her tearstained eyes.

'I'm here to pick up Katie, where is she?' Jenna asked, cautiously. The pain etched into Emily's face saddened her, pushed her to want to act. But Emily didn't want that, didn't seem to want her help. Instead she sat down, silently beside her.

'In the office,' was all Emily could say, turning her attention to the material on her trousers, which she pressed her hands down upon, straightening out the material almost obsessively.

Rob and Katie appeared moments later, Rob's arm wrapped around her waist to support her as she hobbled towards them. Jenna stood up, voicing her concern until Rob assured her that everything was okay.

'Just a slight sprain,' Rob smiled. He hadn't seen Jenna in months, not properly. He allowed his eyes to linger over hers for a moment longer than acceptable. A lot had changed since she came back into his life, he'd found a way to accept her existence, learn to co-operate for the sake of their children.

'We'd best go Katie love,' Jenna smiled, taking her bag from Rob and wrapping her arm around Katie's waist. 'I thought we'd go out for some pizza, you can have your favourite.'

'You're getting some tea?' Rob asked, barely waiting for Jenna's nod. 'Maybe me and Ems could join you, we've not eaten yet either. That'll be alright, won't it Emily?'

The plastic chair wasn't flexible enough for Emily's fingers to dig into it, she held on tightly anyway, feeling pent up frustration lingering. She wasn't okay with it. She didn't want to spend a moment longer with Jenna or Katie or even her dad. She was falling apart inside, her heart breaking from the pain of Naomi moving on, from the pain of Naomi not wanting anything to do with her. But she couldn't speak, just nodded with a slight smile as though it was the only thing she wanted to do.

'Champion,' Rob grinned, walking away. 'I'll just lock my office.'

The pizza restaurant wasn't very busy. Emily sat beside her dad, staring down at the food in front of her. She wasn't very hungry, wasn't very interested in eating anything. She'd reluctantly ordered even though her mind was telling her to go, to tell Rob that she didn't want to be there.

'So, Emily, how are you enjoying college?' Jenna asked, her voice so relaxed and normal, like they were updating each other on their lives and not having their first proper conversation in Emily's entire life.

She didn't reply. Eventually the conversation moved on and Emily was forced to nibble at her food when Rob noted her lack of eating. Another questions got passed her way, but her gaze continued to linger over the cheese and tomato pizza.

'I forgot to ask how things went with Naomi,' Jenna muttered.

Emily's head shot up, watching Jenna look to Katie for a response. She felt her heart start to thump faster, her chest constricting movement. The happy, family moment wasn't real, it wasn't right. She couldn't sit there and listen to the conversation, listen to them talk about Naomi. The voicemail repeated itself in her brain, making her shake with anxiety.

'Where are my…?' Emily gasped, searching her trousers, cursing the lack of pockets. 'My pills, I need my pills.'

It wasn't time for another dose, but Emily didn't think another one would hurt. She needed something, needed anything to help her feel like maybe she was in control. She looked to Rob, her eyes wild with fear and dread.

'It's okay Emily, they're in the car, you left them in the car.'

'Can we go?' Emily asked, her hands shaking, her eyes digging deeply into Rob's until he couldn't say anything but yes.

'Sorry about this,' he whispered, dropping a couple of notes in front of Jenna. 'I'll see you soon Katie.'

The fresh air cooled Emily's heated face, making her shiver further. She stopped by the car door, resting her hands against it as sobs escaped her. Rob's hands wrapped around her waist, pulled her tightly into his arms as she pushed her face into the material of his shirt.

'It's okay Ems, I'm sorry, it was too much too soon. I should have thought, I'm sorry.'

She couldn't speak, could only cry. It was only half the story, the half that her dad knew. She didn't want to tell him the truth, couldn't find the words to explain the pain she was in. Instead she wrapped herself tighter around him, sobbing until she couldn't cry any more.

*

The house was silent when Naomi arrived home. The only sound were a number of small sobs still escaping her lips. She walked through to the kitchen, hoping to find her mother with a pot of tea, but she wasn't there. She knocked lightly on her bedroom door, waited for a response, before pushing it open.

'Mum,' she cried, choking on the tears that increased suddenly.

'Yes Naomi?' Gina asked, not looking up from her book. 'I'm hoping to grow some vegetables this summer so be quick, I'm only on chapter one.'

Naomi's fingers tightened around the door handle. The sobs increased, noisily travelling across the room. But Gina didn't glance up. Naomi waited patiently, hoping Gina would take note of her pain.

'Mum,' she tried again. 'I'm sorry, I don't know how to, I don't how, to deal with this, what's in my head.'

The words felt poisonous on her tongue, betraying her icy exterior of late. She stared at Gina, begging her silently to look up from her book, to open her arms and tell her that everything was going to be okay.

Gina didn't look up. 'You're obviously old enough now to handle everything on your own, maybe you should go and work it all out in your room.'

With shaking knees, Naomi reached for the door, trying to hold herself up. Gina's words stung, metaphorically slapped her across the face until she was left stunned. She stared at her mother, watched her blasé actions; closing the book, turning off the bedside light and tucking herself underneath the covers.

'But mum,' Naomi sobbed, her heart breaking as she finally found herself ready to talk, ready to share her feelings and let her mother be just that.

'Night love,' Gina replied, as though she wasn't about to collapse in tears in the doorway.

Naomi turned around, stumbled through the darkened house, her hands flat against the walls in the hope of being a support for her weakened body. The second she reached the kitchen, she collapsed into a chair, her body warn out from the resistance of pain. She couldn't deny it any more. She couldn't argue with her mother, because she was right. Naomi had pushed too hard; pushed her away, pushed Emily away, even pushed Katie away. She'd hit the bottom, hit it with the biggest bump and it hurt like hell. She didn't think she'd ever reach it, but once she finally did, it became easier to see that climbing back up was a challenge, but it wasn't entirely impossible.

**Chapter One Voting Options:**

Naomily 1: Naomi and Emily find themselves pushed together in college.

Naomily 2: Naomi's attempts to repair her life, aren't necessarily embraced by Emily.

Katie 1: Katie finds herself looking at JJ differently, which causes her to rethink her feelings.

Katie 2: Katie and JJ get into a fight and Katie finds herself comforted by a new friend.

**TO HAVE YOUR SAY, REVIEW WITH YOUR CHOICES!**


	4. Chapter 4: Never Gonna Be The Same

**Disclaimer****: I do not own Skins, please don't rub it in. :-( Especially now that series 4 has started.**

**Author Note****: It's been a hectic few weeks, trying to fit in time to write all these stories I have going on and this one isn't exactly easy. So I'm sorry that it's taken so long to write, but I hope it's worth it. Thanks for sticking by me and enjoy!**

* * *

**Carry Me Away**

_Chapter Four: _Never Gonna Be The Same

She was broken. Again. No matter how hard Emily tried to fight, to win, something would always knock her back down.

_That final year of school, Kara, the leader; the one who pushed the first cigarette against her thigh, had left. It was supposed to be a chance to start again. To move on from the pain, from the suffering. It was supposed to be over then. A summer of possibilities that lay ahead for the next year. Six weeks of thoughts; of fixing old friendships, starting new ones, meeting girls who might like her for her. Who might want to be with her._

_She didn't anticipate Samantha, Kara's best friend, her second in command; who seemed to take charge, was actually a lot worse. Within a week, Emily was broken down again. Pushed to the floor both figuratively and literally. By Christmas she'd given up. Every night spent in her bedroom, still torturing herself by browsing Facebook. Messages from classmates, from those girls, in her inbox, on her wall. It didn't go away. It didn't stop the out of control feelings that overwhelmed her entire body. She thought about ending it, more than once. Every single day until February when she finally made an attempt._

_The day had started like all of them. She got up, read the dozen or so messages she'd received through the night, picked at her breakfast even though she didn't feel much like eating. It wasn't that she didn't like food, or didn't want to eat. She just couldn't. Her stomach would twist itself up in knots, making her feel sick. The moment any food went down, it wasn't long before it came back up again. She took as many days off as possible, but with Rob as a dad, that wasn't often or enough. She managed to take that day off, he wasn't there when she got up, had some early meeting to get to. She was thankful. It gave her time, time to plan, time to think; time to write and rewrite the message she'd started but never found the motivation to end._

'Dear dad, I love you, but I can't do this anymore. It's too hard, it's too painful to live like this. You're a good dad, you do everything right and I couldn't have asked for a better parent. This isn't your fault. I'm sorry. Love, Emily xxx'

_Then she did it, she took the blade she usually used, swiped it across her wrists until blood seeped from the wounds. It felt good. The pain was unlike anything she'd ever felt before; blinding, suffocating, stopping her from feeling every little thing she had ever felt. A brief thought for her dad passed through her mind. Regret that he'd lose his only child, that he'd have to go through the pain of finding her. Of holding her there on her bed as she bled to death. She gasped for breath, panic setting in. She wanted it all to be over, but not like this. Not when her dad was a good man. She started to scream out, the pain increasing, overtaking her until it became too much. It wasn't the kind of pain that masked her feelings anymore, it just made them worse._

_'Emily,' her dads voice was screaming, filling the room. She wondered why he was there, why he had found her when she was still alive. She asked him, muttered a sentence that she thought made sense. Heard him talking on the phone, holding her in his arms as he wrapped something around the bloody wrists. She fell unconscious in the ambulance and by the time she was awake, it was the next day; she had drips hanging up beside the bed and her dad had hold of her hand, looking like he hadn't let it go in all of the hours they'd been there. She'd apologised, told him she was fine, but there was no hiding it anymore. He knew. He knew she was broken, he knew she had hurt herself time again and he knew it was bad enough that she'd tried to end her life._

'You don't have to stay with me dad,' she muttered, lay in her bed with his arms wrapped around her. It was a comfort, a warming embrace that made her feel only comfortable. He was her dad and he could do that, easily, without fail.

'I want to.'

He worried. He always worried. He barely wanted to take his eyes off her, though he knew he had to. She was his baby girl, she was vulnerable and broken and he needed to be there for her. No matter what.

'I'm not going to do anything stupid,' Emily whispered. 'I wouldn't, not again.'

But Rob didn't move, his hands still gripping the sides of her pyjamas like he was clinging on for life. He _was_. He was clinging on for _her _life. His eyes wild with worry and concern, shocked and faltered with emotions that Emily couldn't place.

'I _love _Naomi, dad,' she whispered, her voice breaking up as she spoke her name.

'I love her too,' Rob smiled. 'Shame we haven't seen her much, Gina says she had her heart broken.'

'No, dad,' Emily sighed. 'She did, by me. I _love_-love her.'

He seemed to grow rigid, his clutch loosening as he pulled away. Emily pressed her lips together, begged that he would be okay with how she felt, that she hadn't told him.

'How? When?'

'You made us share a room, we got close, too close.'

'Oh.'

Emily pushed a couple of tears from her eyes, wished it didn't hurt so much to think of Naomi.

'I hurt her. I had to get better, I couldn't be with her, but it really hurt her.'

'I'm sure you didn't mean,'

Emily interrupted him. 'No, but it still happened. Last night she left me a message, telling me that she was over feeling like she has been. That she doesn't want to think of me that way and it hurt, she did to me exactly what I did to her and I couldn't stand it, because I love her.'

'Last night?'

'Right before we went to dinner. It was bad timing dad.'

'So it wasn't about Katie? Or your mother?'

Emily wrapped her arms around Rob's waist, didn't want to contemplate her exact feelings on the two females invading her life. 'I don't need anyone but you dad.'

He pulled away again, unlinking her arms from his body. 'No, no.'

'What?' she asked, frowning.

'You do need people Emily, you've lived too many years without a mother. You need a mother.'

'I don't want her.'

Rob's voice grew small. 'I don't want to lose you Emily, but I'm scared for you every day, since you last ended up in hospital. I don't want you to get into that place again.'

'I won't, I already told you. I won't do that. Besides, I'm seeing a counsellor, I'll be okay.'

'I worry about you Emsy.'

'I know you do dad,' she whispered. 'But I'm doing good, really good. I don't need her to make me do better because I have everything I need.'

It didn't stop him from worrying. Emily was his baby girl, he wanted her to be okay, he _needed _her to be. Everything that had happened scared him. He didn't expect her to embrace Jenna with open arms, but he hadn't expected such a rejection either. He wanted what was best. He knew pushing wasn't going to get him anywhere, so instead, he held her and they continued to talk about nothing and everything, like they always had.

*

JJ's arms came down around Katie's bare shoulders, his cold fingers retracing steps along her collar bone, making her shiver under his touch. She settled into his embrace, rested her head against his chest and enjoyed the moment beside him.

'I feel like I haven't seen you in weeks,' Katie muttered.

'It's only been five days so it's not really a week,' he assured her.

It annoyed her. She didn't want it to annoy her. But it _did_. He liked to correct her, when she made an exaggeration, like she didn't realise it was not the complete truth. She knew it was just who he was, had learnt that about him within a month of them being together. But on this occasion, it frustrated her.

'I know that Jonah,' she snapped, pulling out of his arms and edging closer to the wall.

'Are you okay?' he asked, reaching his arm around her shoulders.

'Why do you ask me that? Do I not seem okay?'

'Not really,' he informed her. 'You sound like maybe you're on your lady time because mum says that when girls get their period, they sometimes get very cranky and out of character. So I conclude that you must be.'

Katie sighed. 'If I was, I wouldn't have just had sex with you Jonah, or at least, you'd know about it.'

He frowned, looked at her until she turned away. He couldn't understand her sometimes, when she was acting weird. He didn't get why girls said things and did things that were completely different to each other.

'I'm sorry if I offended you, I didn't mean to upset you. I obviously don't know enough about the female reproductive system to come to a proper conclusion.'

He talked a lot too, she realised. Not just talking, but talking properly, in full sentences about weird things. Like female reproductive systems. She'd never met anyone who talked about that, except the teacher who taught her sex education in school.

'You didn't offend me,' she assured him. Willing herself to be a bit nicer, she curled back up against his side.

'I'm sorry anyway, mum says that I sometimes talk a bit too much about things I shouldn't and that can scare people.'

'You don't scare me Jonah.'

'But I do annoy you.'

Katie took a deep breath, let her fingers circle his small nipple. 'No, sometimes, but not all the time.'

'It's okay to annoy each other I think as long as it's not all the time.'

'Yeah,' Katie sighed. 'Not all the time.'

*

Every day seemed to be a little bit easier. It all started about six weeks after Emily started taking her medication, it was like a giant transparent roof over her head had opened up and was allowing her to see her life for the first time. Things weren't perfect, she knew they probably wouldn't be for a long time. But they were better than she had been anticipating.

'I'll see you the same time next week Emily.'

She nodded, smiled at the counsellor and left the room. She'd cried, she'd talked, she'd listened all in the space of an hour. It helped. She'd been sceptical at first, unsure about whether talking to a stranger would help. But it did. She didn't even know why or how. Things suddenly started to become clearer, issues messed up in her mind straightened themselves out, became easier to understand. Even recent things, like with Naomi. She made sense of her feelings, decided what to do next and realised that every knock down didn't have to be a bad thing. Emily had actually rebuilt her foundations, without knowing, those sessions had allowed her to start from the bottom and work her way through to create a sturdy surface to walk upon. She felt stronger, more confident and empowered to live her life again. She had a floor to fall down on, something to stop herself from freefalling continuously and it was an amazing comfort.

*

The few words Naomi didn't want to hear were spoken so clearly that she wondered if the teacher was doing it on purpose. Group assignments were never something Naomi liked doing, she preferred to work alone. Always had trouble trusting someone else to complete a project.

'Naomi, Steve, Nicky and Emily, you will be group two.'

She scanned the room, begged the world itself for a second Emily to have appeared in the room since they took attendance a few minutes earlier. No luck. Naomi cursed the world, silently sent messages of hate and revenge to whatever might have been listening to her thoughts. She officially hated her teacher, had never loved her much, but now found reason to loathe her entirely. Emily caught her eye, forcing her to look away. She hated seeing her face, hated her being in the room; so close when nothing was as she wanted it to be. She wasn't even sure she wanted it anymore, was too angry to contemplate the possibility that things could, under some odd situation, change for the better.

'It's a debate, who's good at debates?' Steve mumbled, reading from the assignment sheet they'd been given.

Naomi looked briefly at Emily, didn't need to look for long to realise the paled faced girl was on the verge of crying or throwing up, or both. She wished she could comfort her, could tell her that they would practice together and make it easier. But sitting beside her was only filling her with dread.

*

'Stop being such a fucking dyke about everything.'

Naomi knew as soon as she'd spoken, that it was the wrong thing to say. The memories of Emily telling her about her past came flooding back, taking control of her thought process and sending messages of guilt and regret around her system. She looked away, couldn't face looking Emily in the eye through fear of what she might see. Then skin collided with her cheek and she was forced to look up. Emily's irate eyes dancing wildly inside her head, unsettling Naomi's nerves more than the thought of silence. She'd never seen Emily like that, didn't think Emily had ever been like that. Then red flashed before her eyes, fingers digging into her hair until it hurt.

Emily pushed, tugged, jumped across to Naomi. Rage building inside of her. She'd never felt it before; anger that made her want to lash out. Every angry moment from her life thus far seemed to come flooding into her mind. Naomi's original statement, the one that merely hit a nerve, was now swallowed up by years of hurt. She tugged harder, felt hair in her hands. It was too far, she knew it was too far. Except that she couldn't stop herself. She climbed on top of Naomi, not caring where her hands and feet landed on the blonde until the chair fell backwards and they were on the floor.

Falling off the chair didn't hurt as much as Naomi expected it to, was more surprised by the weight of Emily's body pressed against her own. She bit her lip, tried to ignore the desire to kiss Emily, as she writhed for control. Emily was winning and though Naomi hated to lose, she found herself helpless to the seemingly stronger girl.

'Naomi, Emily.'

A deep, feminine voice bellowed behind them. Everyone had gathered round, people were shouting their names, trying to pull Emily away. Naomi just lay there, took the slaps and the hair pulling that Emily gave out because she didn't think she had any right to defend herself. Not against Emily. Not against the one who was right.

The strength she'd been feeling seemed to waver. Emily's reaction seemed to hit her hard, made her realise what she'd done. She didn't want to be that way, she didn't want to feel angry. She'd spent too long trying to fix herself and that loss of control only seemed to push her backwards.

By the time they'd been separated, Emily had recoiled, reverted back to her quiet, introverted self. It didn't escape Naomi's notice that she looked a little shocked, unfamiliar with her own actions. They sat in the headteachers office, her steely expression too chilling to look at.

'If you both weren't having issues at home, then I would have expelled you before you entered the room. Do you understand me?'

The two girls nodded, accepted their punishment begrudgingly as they were handed a set of scrubbing brushes and told to clean up the graffiti by the science block. Emily took the bucket full of brushes, rushed out of the college and set to work because she didn't want to spend any time thinking about what had happened. She didn't want to find time to think about Naomi following behind, or the memories she'd been attempting to forget.

*

'Did you hear about Emily and Naomi?'

The only thing Katie didn't want to think about, was the one thing that JJ had brought up. They'd been together for just thirty seconds, their lessons for the day having barely finished. She'd tried to ignore the thought of Emily and Naomi, had ignored them as best as she could. But JJ's stark reminder brought images of the two of them kissing, that seemed to come out of nowhere and actually made her want to cry.

'You heard about them?' she asked, worry hitting her. How could everyone know that they'd been together? That Emily and Naomi had been more than just friends?

'About their fight, yes.'

'Their fight?' Katie was confused, didn't understand what he was talking about, but felt relieved that it wasn't about them having sex. _Sex_. Girls having sex. She couldn't understand it.

'Yes, Emily jumped on Naomi in their psychology lesson and kept slapping her, Cook said she kissed her, but I think he's making that bit up. Freddie said that Hayley Barnes, who is in their class, just said that they'd been fighting and got sent to see Harriet.'

'I haven't seen Naomi in a while,' Katie mumbled, not really to anyone, just thinking aloud.

'But you're her best friend, I thought best friends were supposed to spend time together,' JJ concluded.

Katie took a deep breath. _They were_, she told herself. Tried not to stare down, as her eyes landed on the front of JJ's trousers. A memory came flooding back, infiltrating her brain when she didn't want it to.

'I'm sorry,' she whispered, talking to his crotch.

'Sorry for what?' JJ asked, stopping and lifting her chin to stare into her eyes. 'Why would you be sorry when you haven't done anything wrong?'

She shrugged. 'I wasn't very nice to you yesterday.'

'It's okay, sometimes I get into a really bad mood and I break my models. So you were just in a little bit of a bad mood and that's okay. In fact, mum said that when girls are in bad moods you should buy them chocolate because it makes them feel better, so I have got you a bar of Dairy Milk.'

The large bar of chocolate appeared in JJ's hand, pushed under Katie's nose with force. She stared at the purple wrapper, felt guilt rising up inside her chest. He was nice. JJ was nice. She liked him, she _loved _him. He bought her chocolate because she'd been horrible to him, he was _too _nice.

'You shouldn't have, but thanks,' she smiled.

It shouldn't have annoyed her, it was a kind gesture. But it was a little weird. If anyone should have made it up to someone, it should have been her. She bit her lip, tried to ignore the conflicting feelings that overtook her. She _loved _JJ, she cared about him.

'I wanted to, sometimes it's nice to spoil your girlfriend, that's what mum says.'

His _mum_, why did he always ask his mum? She asked her mum things too, but she didn't tell him that. It was weird, it was odd. She used to like it, always liked that he didn't just do what he thought was best. She couldn't understand why she despised it so much now.

'Well, thanks,' she smiled again, felt the falseness of the action. It wasn't right. He was her boyfriend, he was the love of her life, he was her first and only. He was _special_. _Special_. He _was _special, but maybe not in the way she had always thought.

'Would you like to come back to my house?' JJ asked. 'My mum is cooking a special dinner and you're invited, if you want to come.'

'I have to go home,' Katie whispered, kissing him briefly on the cheek, rushing away from him.

She didn't look back, couldn't bare the thought of seeing his reaction to her frostiness. She didn't understand it, couldn't comprehend what was going on. He was special to her, he _was_, she _knew _he was. She thought she loved him, that her feelings were strong, but now she wasn't so sure. She wondered if it was just her lack of experience, that maybe she was letting herself be more open to boys. She couldn't understand why it had happened, how it had happened.

Things with Naomi had changed so quickly, and Emily, even her mother. JJ was the one consistent thing, the stable part of her life that stayed exactly as it was. Everything was fine, everything was perfect. But so much had changed in her life, so many things had happened that now she wasn't sure about anything.

*

'This is your fault, you know?' Naomi groaned, scrubbing the wall with as much frustration as possible.

She hated the idea of detention, or 'community service' as Harriet had called it. But the second she'd got a scrubbing brush in her hand, the frustrations she felt seemed to be directed to cleaning up the mess. It wasn't mess really, it was actually a really clever piece of art, something someone would have been proud of. She couldn't be proud of anything; she wasn't good at art, she wasn't into fashion, she hated sports, she couldn't sing to save her life. She could argue, she could be sarcastic. They weren't really things to be proud of.

Emily sighed. 'I'm not the one who fucked someone else.'

Another thing Naomi couldn't be proud of. She gritted her teeth, tried to brush aside how much Emily's words hurt, turned instead to her sarcastic wit.

'Wow Emily, you're really on fire today.'

'Fuck off.'

Naomi rolled her eyes. 'I already tried that, but here we are, with you having jumped me in the middle of psychology.'

'Shut up. You stupid, fucking tit.'

The redhead wasn't Emily, not the Emily she'd got to know. Sure she could be a bit snippy at times, always appeared happy to make comments that weren't nice. But Naomi had got past that, had seen the Emily underneath. The broken, quiet girl that just needed people to be there for her.

Naomi frowned. 'Seriously Ems, what has got into you?'

'You think it's fucking clever don't you, being the way you are, saying things without thinking. You're fucking pathetic. Ever made anyone kill themselves Naomi?'

She was confused. 'What?'

'Sticks and stones might break bones, but words fucking kill people.'

Naomi sighed, her heart tugging inside her chest. Regret lacing her present existence. She would have told Emily she'd lost it, except that it was her fault she had. She'd pushed her too far. She didn't even know why she'd done it. They were only discussing the topic of their debate.

'What I said, I didn't mean to upset you. I just didn't think.'

'You never think,' Emily stated, continuing to scrub the wall with as much rigour as Naomi.

'How would you know?' Naomi scoffed, wished she could stop being so harsh. 'You fucked off before I had chance to show you what I'm like.'

'Stop, just fucking stop,' Emily ordered, her voice panicked, she couldn't stand the direction their conversation was going. She didn't want to get angry again, she didn't want to feel anything anymore, not for the rest of the day at least.

'No, Emily, you can't keep blaming me for all of this. I didn't do anything to you, I didn't fuck you over. _You _fucked me over.'

Emily turned away, stopped scrubbing the wall. Naomi was right. Her counsellor didn't tell her how to fix things, but something they'd come to the conclusion over, was that Emily needed to take control. She had to take responsibility over her actions and her words. She stayed silent. Responding would mean acknowledging to Naomi that she was right. Whilst she didn't mind telling herself that, she wasn't ready to tell Naomi.

After a long silence, Emily found herself changing the conversation, her curiosity getting the better of her. 'Who is she?'

'Who's who?' Naomi asked, confused.

'The girl you're seeing.'

'I'm not _'seeing' _her,' Naomi snapped, wishing it wasn't assumed. 'We're friends, we _were _friends. We just, we,'

'You fucked her Naomi, that's not friends. That's, how could you do that if you were just friends?'

Naomi chewed on her lip, just shrugged. She didn't have an answer. She didn't know why she did it.

Emily continued, her voice growing stronger. She felt her control coming back, seeping through her feelings again. Allowing her to feel the power she had over herself. 'I didn't even think you were, well you always made it seem like you didn't, you didn't like...'

'Girls?'

Emily nodded.

'I don't know what I like Emily, you didn't give me a chance to. All I know is that I want to be with you.'

'Want?'

An overwhelming panic hit Naomi. _Want_. She did want Emily, she just couldn't say that, didn't want her to know that. Not after she'd tried to persuade her she didn't care. Her feelings were beating too fast around her body, making her feel sick.

'Wanted,' she rushed. 'I wanted to be with you.'

'You don't anymore?' Emily's words came out so small, vulnerable. It made Naomi regret her desire to hide the strength of her feelings.

She chewed on her lip again. 'I don't know. I don't, you, I just, it's different now.'

'It hurt me too,' Emily sighed, forcing herself to be honest. 'Seeing you with her really hurt Naomi.'

'You don't have a right to say that Emily, it's not fair. You can't act like you care, not now.'

'Of course I care Naomi, you're the one who said otherwise. I thought you didn't care about me, when you were fucking that girl, you made it seem like you don't care at all.'

'I do care,' Naomi admitted, fighting through the urge to be sick. 'Why do you think I feel so fucking betrayed? I fucking changed things, changed what I thought was true, for _you_. I thought I only wanted to be with guys. _You _changed that. _You _made it different.'

'I had to do it the way I did Naomi. I don't regret that. I only regret that you got hurt,' Emily assured her.

'Hurt?' Naomi scoffed, her eyes rolling back into her head. 'You don't know the meaning of the word Emily, fucks sake.'

'You think _I _don't know?' Emily scoffed back, the painful look in her eyes. Naomi knew she was wrong. 'Have you forgotten everything I ever told you? If anyone doesn't understand Naomi, it's _you_. What has been so bad in _your _life? Other than this, with us.'

Naomi bit her lip, knew that Emily was right. So she grew up without a dad, that never mattered because Gina made up for it. Her life was good, it had always been really good, in comparison. Except for what happened with Emily.

Silence overtook them. The only sound, the scrubbing of the brushes against the surface of the wall. Emily focused on the one spot, let the sea of blue spray paint focus and unfocus as she scrubbed as hard as she could, until it began to fade. Naomi beside her carried on working, ignored the large image beside the letter she was trying to remove. She didn't want to remove it really, wished she could ignore the job. She didn't want someone else's pride to be shattered, not when they were so talented.

'Are you better?' she finally asked, breaking the silence. 'Is that why you came round?'

'No,' Emily sighed, not taking her attention off the wall. 'I came around because you broke our parents hearts. They love each other, they were getting married and you not being there hurt them.'

'I know,' Naomi sighed. 'I fucked up.'

Emily shook her head, turned back to the blonde. 'No Naomi, you fucked that girl.'

'I know that too Emily, stop telling me what I did wrong. I know, I can't forget it. Any of it.'

Each painful memory travelled through Naomi's brain like a slideshow. She bit her lip, tried to keep her focus on that letter that didn't seem to want to be removed. She regretted starting the conversation, wished she could go back in time the whole day, the whole year to a time when she didn't even know who Emily was. _It would hurt less_, she realised.

'Maybe you should start acting like you can't then, instead of playing the lonely victim.'

'Are you better?' Naomi repeated, ignoring the original conversation, wanting to return to that moment where she'd been hopeful of a real, productive conversation.

'A bit. It's not going to happen overnight. This is bigger than that, you know what happened, all of it. You know how big it is. They said it'll probably take years.'

'Oh.'

_Disappointed_. Nothing but disappointment reached into Naomi's chest, tugged at her heart until she couldn't breath properly. She couldn't wait years, she couldn't even wait weeks for Emily without ending up a mess.

'I am in a better place though,' Emily assured her. 'My medication is really working out now. It took a while, at first it didn't feel like it was doing anything.'

'What's that like?' Naomi asked, her voice barely working.

'It's horrible. I was so numb. I couldn't feel anything Naomi, I couldn't feel everything that I wanted to feel about you.'

A tiny ray of hope sprung up out of nowhere. 'And now?'

'Now it's better. Now I feel more than I thought I'd ever feel...about anyone.'

It confused Naomi. She couldn't work out if Emily was telling her they could never be together, or if maybe there was a chance. She silently begged for a chance, hoped and prayed to nobody that it would work out.

'What does that mean then?'

'I'm ready Naomi,' Emily whispered, dropping her brush, taking a step closer to Naomi. 'I want to be with you, Naomi. I'm ready to be with you.'

Emily's fingers reached out, took Naomi's hand, carefully trailed across Naomi's own slender fingers.

'You think it's that easy?' Naomi asked, cursing herself for not letting it just happen. 'That we can forget what happened, that _I _can forget, that I don't still hurt.'

'I'm sorry,' Emily cried out, brushing a couple of tears from her cheeks. 'I really am.'

Naomi tugged her hands away, her eyes growing wild with frustration. It overwhelmed her. She didn't want it, she just wanted to let Emily back in. But she was scared.

'I thought, I thought you wanted to be with me Emily. I wanted it so much, I wanted you so much. I've never felt like that before,' she cried back, tears building up in the back of her throat. 'I haven't ever let myself be like that. I don't open myself up, not like that and you just stood all over it, like it was easy.'

'No. Naomi, it wasn't easy. It was horrible. It hurt me too. To do that when all I wanted was to be with you.'

Without hesitation, Emily leant forwards, pushed her lips against Naomi's until she reacted to the touch, kissed back for a moment before pulling away. It was nice. A smile crept onto Emily's face, her feelings dancing around inside her chest like a fly trapped in a jar.

'No. Emily. No. I can't, not right now. Not when I've made such a mess of my life,' Naomi whispered, turning away. 'I need to make things better first, I need to forgive you.'

She'd expected too much. Emily grabbed the side of her jacket with her fingers, tried to ignore the disappointment. She shouldn't feel so hurt, Naomi didn't invite her to kiss her. She shouldn't have pushed too hard. 'But, I, well, can we at least be friends? For a bit.'

'I don't know,' Naomi muttered, sending a very brief, very small smile back. 'Just give me some time, yeah?'

Emily bit her lip, returned to scrubbing the wall with as much frustration as had built up. 'Yeah, okay.'

**Chapter One Voting Options:**

Naomi 1: Naomi takes tentative steps towards repairing the rifts she caused, which is easier said than done when others have their own problems.

Naomi 2: Naomi's confidence is shattered once more, with surprising consequences.

Twins 1: Katie is struggling with all of the changes in her life, causing her to lash out to the people who should matter the most. Whilst Emily makes a decision about her current relationships.

Twins 2: Katie's actions push her to the limit, which surprises Emily the most, changing their relationship in more ways than one.

**TO HAVE YOUR SAY, REVIEW WITH YOUR CHOICES!**


	5. Chapter 5: Stand Where I Stood

**Disclaimer****: I do not own Skins, please don't rub it in. :-( Especially now that series 4 has started.**

**Author Note****: I've been having a few personal issues of later and this chapter has really not been an easy one to put together. But I hope it'll be worth it. Only 3 more weeks of my job and then I'll be back to unemployment, aka, writing more than once a week.**

* * *

**Carry Me Away**

_Chapter Five: Stand Where I Stood_

Never had a room felt so suffocating before. She couldn't make sense why, or understand why she was constantly feeling like she couldn't breath. Yet it was happening a lot, too often. Katie pulled her pillow up to her chest, hugged it, squeezing so tight that if it was a person she suspected they would suffocate. The overwhelming feeling of dread, of her world crashing down upon her and she had no idea why. So her life wasn't perfect, but she'd asked to find her dad, no matter what came from it. She concluded that without Emily things would be fine. But when she thought about Emily not being there, she was quickly reminded of the occasions where Emily very nearly wasn't. It confused her that she cared, that it hurt to think about Emily not being there when her own sister didn't seem to care back. That hurt twice as much. She'd never wanted a sister, never had the desire to be anything but an only child. Yet for some reason she couldn't imagine her life without Emily anymore.

'Katie darling, what's wrong?' Jenna questioned, opening the door after an unanswered knock. 'You've been wallowing in this room for a week now. You should go out, go to JJ's, ring Naomi. Do something.'

'I don't want to.'

She didn't. She couldn't explain it, but she didn't want to move. She only got up for college and that was mostly because she was afraid of the consequences of not attending.

'Katie.'

The corner of the bed dipped down, Jenna perching herself on it until Katie was forced to sit up to see her. She leant against the head board, never letting go of the comfort of the pillow.

'How do you know you love someone?' she whispered.

'You just do,' Jenna responded after a moments thought. 'You feel it.'

Katie shook her head, stared at her mother with a need for answers. 'But how do you know you're _in_ love with them and don't just love them like a friend?'

'Is this about JJ?' Jenna questioned, resting a hand on Katie's ankle.

Katie shrugged. The question was just there, she didn't really know why. She loved JJ, she knew she loved him. But she'd never loved anyone like that before.

Jenna moved up the bed until she was sat beside her daughter. She reached out, stroked Katie's hair across her head. 'Sometimes you think you really love someone, but when things in our life change, sometimes we change.'

'Did that happen with you and dad?' Katie asked, the question surprising even herself.

The question was heated, packed full of so much history, so much emotion that Jenna's voice caught in her throat. She didn't quite know what to say.

'I loved your dad, but sometimes things happen that damage people and it's not always easy to get that love back.'

'But you did love him?'

'Of course I love, loved him.'

The confusing fog that had inhabited Katie's brain didn't clear, it barely even shifted. She squeezed a little tighter on the pillow, a faint memory of being a very small child doing the same. She let out a long, deep sigh that captured Jenna's attention.

'Do you remember your Low-low?'

Katie frowned, 'My what?'

'The pillow you used to sleep with.'

'No?'

'After we went away,' Jenna informed her. 'You couldn't sleep on your own, I spent a week in with you until we went to the doctors. She knew you had a twin, she knew that Emily wasn't around anymore. So she suggested a pillow. It worked.'

'I missed her?' Katie asked, feeling tears sting the back of her eyes.

She didn't remember. She put it down to being too young. But as she thought about it for longer, long after Jenna kissed the top of her head and told her that things would work out one way or another, she realised that what she felt for Emily was a feeling she once couldn't handle except with the help of a pillow.

*

The cup of tea in his hands went cold long ago. He didn't notice it happen, only realised a while later when he sipped on what he assumed was a hot drink. Something had changed. He couldn't tell what it was. Things were fine just a few weeks earlier. He loved Gina; she was special, beautiful and the most infuriating woman he had ever met. It was what made her so great. She pulled him up for being macho, yet loved to run her hands across his ripped body when they had sex. She was everything he thought he hated in women, but everything he knew he didn't want to live without.

'This is the part where her aunt kills the dog,' Gina noted from her seat beside him on the sofa, her attention focused on the television. He glanced over, sent a small smile her way that he knew wasn't as big as it should be.

'Are you okay?' he asked, wanting to check her happiness, always wanting to be sure that everything was okay.

They'd barely seen each other lately. If it wasn't Naomi's problems, it was the bloody gym or his daughters demanding his attention. He loved them all, he didn't think he could picture his world without any of them in it. Not since Katie had returned. He made an effort to see her, to hear her voice, just to make sure she hadn't vanished again.

'Naomi loves this part,' Gina grinned.

She curled her legs up under her, rested a hand on Rob's chest whilst she laughed at the humorous scene that always made her laugh. She always laughed at that scene, it wasn't even funny. Naomi made it funny, her running commentary of it emblazoned in Gina's mind even when her daughter wasn't present.

'Everything's fine,' she noted, almost as an after thought.

In all honesty, it wasn't. Something strange lingered in the air. A feeling of being out of control. It scared her. It always scared her to be powerless. The thought of anything having that much power over her life left her shaken. That was why she couldn't believe in a god.

'Are you okay?' she asked back, more out of habit than curiosity.

'Actually I'm not,' Rob muttered, flicking the off button on the remote control, forcing Gina to turn to face him.

He hated to worry her and the hesitant look in her eyes was painful to watch. He waited, watched her lips as they pursed in anticipation for speech.

'What's wrong?'

Rob sighed, reached a hand out to slide a strand of hair back from Gina's eyes. 'This, us.'

'We're fine, aren't we?' Gina's voice didn't settle his concerns.

'Except that it's been a bit weird, you know, since the almost-wedding.'

She couldn't deny it. 'Yes.'

'I love you Gina, I don't want it to be like this.'

A tiny smile snaked its way across her lips until she reached out and cupped his face in her hands. She stared into his hazel eyes, drowned herself in his loving attention. They kissed.

'I don't want it either, I do want you.'

Two large hands reached around her shoulders, her knees, lifted her up from the sofa. Gina squealed as Rob carried her through the house, laughing at her girlie screams. He dropped her, almost landed on top of her on her bed until his hands were back on her hips, his lips tracing kisses along her collar bone and his trousers already being worked open by her wandering hands.

*

Curling fingers around the gentle, soft waves of brown hair, staring up into deep blue eyes that were easy to drown in. Lips, slightly plump, crashing down upon Katie's with passion and need. A desire so loving that even Katie couldn't hate it. She pulled back, a smile pressed firmly onto her lips mirrored by JJ's.

_I love him, _she told herself. _I really love him._

She needed to prove it, to show him how much. She was a private person, but even she felt the cause deserved something special, something unexpected.

'Come with me,' she whispered into his ear, tugging on his hand until he obeyed, following her out the side entrance of the college until they'd reached a secluded spot that housed a shed and not much else.

'What are we doing here?' he asked, silenced by a kiss, by Katie's hands sliding very quickly into the waistline of his jeans. Before he could react, his back smashed against the wooden door, moved to the side whilst Katie pressed down on the metal latch and gave them entrance.

'Katie,' he yelped, surprised by the enthusiasm, by the extremities of her behaviour.

'Shh,' she called out, the sound disappearing into a kiss that didn't seem to stop.

If she stopped, she knew she would think and thinking would lead to the wrong sort of conclusions; regrets. She didn't want that, she just wanted JJ. She wanted to show him that her love for him was still there, was still strong.

'Katie, wait,' JJ tried again, pressing a hand to her lower back, his other hovering around her shoulder. 'This is all a bit,'

'Shut up and fuck me Jonah,' she interrupted, pressing her lips back against his with a force that sent them both stumbling backwards against the hard, wooden floor. They laughed. It was funny. Then JJ was straddling her and his lips were colliding with her glossy ones. She smiled into the kisses; soft, gentle, numerous tiny kisses travelling along her mouth, her neck until he pushed aside material and his lips found her breasts. She curled her fingers back up around his hair, tugging a little tighter, allowing him to take control of the rhythm. He was slow at first, taking his time to think about her needs, fully aware of how long it usually took for her pleasure to be met as well as his own. Until he sped up, building up to the moment when he pushed that little bit harder and she bit down on her lip as she squealed in his ear.

*

Things were clearer now. Naomi could feel the huge weight that had been sitting on her heart had lifted. She wasn't happy, she was just at peace with everything. She'd made mistakes, acted badly and was ready to take responsibility for her life. Emily may have broken her heart, but she had let her. Nobody had forced her to be horrible to her mother, Emily certainly wasn't to blame for her lying to Katie, keeping the truth from her. It was out in the open now. She waited outside Katie's history room, wanted to start fixing the things that had gone so horribly wrong in her life. Starting with the one person she had been able to count on in the earlier weeks of college.

'Katie,' she called out, as dark hair flew past Naomi, almost running down the corridor.

She followed, didn't let up the pursuit until she was stood in the toilets waiting for Katie to finish in a cubicle. After ten minutes she still hadn't come out. The sound of small sobs barely missed when Naomi pulled on the door. She let it go, stood in silence as the cubicle door unlocked. The twin seeming to believe she was actually alone.

'Great,' Katie sighed, rolling her eyes when she caught sight of Naomi still hovering by the door.

'Katie, please. I miss you.'

'Leave me alone.'

'You're upset, I'm not going to fucking leave you alone. What's wrong?'

'It's none of your business.'

The last thing Katie wanted or needed was more stress. After sleeping with JJ they both went their separate ways to their lessons. The distraction of history was barely a distraction at all when they were discussing a topic she'd been debating with JJ barely a week before. Her heart ached, not for him, but for the strength of her regret. She'd used him to try and make herself feel better, to decide whether her love was legitimate and as it turned out, it had only made her more clueless.

'I'm your friend Katie, I care about you,' Naomi tried.

Katie scowled, splashing water against her face. 'Not as much as you care about my bitch of a sister.'

'That's not fair Katie, you haven't let me explain.'

'You had sex with her,' she snapped, turning off the tap and turning to face Naomi. 'What else is there to it?'

'I love her, okay?' Naomi stated, her feelings completely clear. 'I love Emily. But that doesn't stop me from loving you too. You're the only person who has ever accepted me for me.'

'No. Naomi,' Katie sighed, throwing a paper towel in the bin. 'You can't have us both. It doesn't work like that.'

'Why not? Why can't I be friends with both of you?'

Katie rolled her eyes, wasn't feeling very sociable. 'You don't want to be friends with Emily, you want to be more than that.'

'What's wrong with that too?' Naomi asked, her eyes turned down.

'It's weird. Girls and girls, it's just weird.'

The signs were there, Naomi had just never noticed them before, had never needed to notice them before. Katie wasn't happy with Emily's sexuality from day one, that much was clear. Even with her recent attempts to be civil towards her sister, it was obviously still a struggle. It made the battle to gain Katie's friendship back all the more difficult.

'What are you? Eighty two? It's not weird Katie. You can't help who you fall for.'

'No,' Katie frowned, the problems with JJ still etched on her brain.

'I don't have any friends,' Naomi called out, trying her best to keep her delicate feelings at bay. 'Any real friends. I miss having you.'

'I don't miss you,' Katie scoffed. 'You're just some stupid, fucking gay. How do I know you don't just want to sleep with me like you do Emily?'

It felt like a knife stabbing her through the heart. Naomi pressed her lips together, frustrated and angry. She didn't want to lose Katie, even with her homophobic abuse. She tried to tell herself that Katie was still upset, that it was just her own frustrations shining through.

'Christ, Katie,' Naomi managed to say. 'Do you know anything about relationships?'

Katie's brown eyes stared at Naomi with a level of contempt, yet a strange amount of approval. Naomi stared back, locked eyes with her once friend and tried to stare her down. Katie's eyes glazed over, her bag pulled higher up onto her shoulder before she turned around.

'No, I don't.'

*

The river of tears grew into an ocean. Red blotchy marks covered her face and an inner battle of resentment and fear seemed to build up out of nowhere. She shouldn't have done it, it wasn't fair to Jonah to sleep with him, to show him her feelings when she wasn't even sure what they were. He was a nice boy, a really great person who deserved better. Katie always thought she was okay, a morally just person who cared about other people's feelings. Standing by the bus stop, contemplating everything in her life, Katie began to doubt herself. She couldn't accept her best friend or her sister for not being straight. She couldn't accept her boyfriend's medical condition that she'd always known existed. She wondered where her morals and beliefs had gone, where her ability to care about people for who they were and not details like sexuality and ability.

A line of doubt, of guilt and even righteousness moved up into her body and forced her to take another look. She wasn't a bigot, or a homophobe, she wasn't. She just didn't understand, couldn't work out why anyone would think it was okay to be _that_ different. A lesson in school about differences once led to a discussion on whether or not it was inbred or if it was learned behaviour. The psychological side of herself wanted to believe it was inbuilt; out of her control, yet she had the same genetics as her twin sister. The girl who, underneath her own issues, actually accepted people's genetic differences like race or, supposedly, sexuality.

'Katie, what are you doing here?' Rob gasped when Katie entered the gym. Her aim of working out the only thing on her mind as she fought desperately to continue swimming above her issues. She smiled at him, let him see that she was happy to be there, when really she just wanted him to leave her to her own devices.

'Wanted to get some exercise.'

'Aren't you meant to be at college?'

'I had a free, last lesson of the day so I came straight here.'

'Champion, you're just like your old man,' Rob grinned, patting her arm. 'I used to sneak out of class just to go to the school gym. In the end I left with Sports and that's about it. Dunno how I ended up a business man.'

Katie smiled at him despite feeling like scowling. Rob was fantastic, she was glad to be in his life finally. She just wasn't in the best of moods and everything seemed to annoy her, even his enthusiasm.

'I'm a little busy this afternoon, took the morning off to spend some time with Gina. Will you be alright?'

'Yeah, I'll be fine,' she responded, relieved to get on with it alone.

'Emily's supposed to be coming in later, we're gonna get some dinner if you want to join us.'

'Sure,' she muttered, barely giving herself time to think, not wanting to disappoint.

'I'll tell you what, I'll get my best man Graham to come give you a bit of assistance. Personal trainer he is and the best young lad in that job I've seen since, well, since me. He's always getting people asking after him, everyone recommends him. Gets a lot of attention from the ladies too does our Graham.'

Katie smiled again, nodded her head briefly. Figured it might be easier spending some time with a stranger than people she knew and loved. A quick phone call and five minutes later a tall, dark haired, green eyed young man with the warmest expression Katie had ever seen, arrived. She recognised him instantly, closed her eyes at the sound of his Scottish accent.

'How's the ankle?' he asked, winking at her. 'No twisting it this time, alright? Maybe I should take your bag, just in case.'

Rob muttered a farewell. 'I'll leave you in Graham's capable hands.'

Katie followed Graham down the corridor towards the Gold Member's lounge. They sat down and discussed a workout plan, decided to go for a swim instead. They got changed, Katie jumped into the pool after Graham, swam around for a bit, chatting with him.

'Are we allowed to be in here without a lifeguard?' Katie questioned, treading water.

'I'm trained, you're the boss's daughter, we should be alright.'

They swam laps, back and forth until they'd had enough. Katie finished first, swam out into Graham's lane and treaded water until he almost collided with her. She allowed a cheeky grin to rest on her face, prompting a pretend fight as Graham splashed her with water. He reached out, slid a hand around her waist and pulled her to him.

'Oh,' she gasped, her forehead resting against his.

'You're beautiful, you know?' he sighed, his other hand moving up to her face, pushing damp strands of hair back across her head.

'I,' she tried to speak, but her brain wouldn't work. He was beautiful too, handsome, gorgeous. His deep green eyes delved deep into her, not pulling away from the locked stares with her brown ones.

There was nowhere for her hands to go, nowhere she could find to place them until she let them travel of their own accord to his waist. Her breath hitched when he moved closer, the smell of chlorine filling up her senses, colliding with her taste buds when Graham's mouth crashed against hers.

'I,' Katie tried again, couldn't find the words. Was too distracted by Graham guiding her through the water until they were in the shallow end and the wall of the pool stopped her from moving further. She let him kiss her, let his hands travel across her breasts until she couldn't stand it anymore. Her fingers traced the lines of his chest, of his stomach until the natural curiosity of her hands sent them into the waistline of his swimming shorts.

'Are you sure?' he asked, quickly silenced by a nodding kiss.

She let his hands pull the tankini top up over her head, reacted to the feel of his fingers on her naked body. Pushed away his shorts, following his removal of the rest of her swimming suit until there was no going back. He pushed her against the wall, wrapping his arms around her as their bodies moved in rhythm. A loud, masculine grunt in her ear pulled Katie from her relapse in judgement. Realisation slapped her so hard in the face that her unfulfilled sexual appetite wasn't even a thought. Only a trailing feeling of regret, of dread and the knowledge of her betrayal left to carry her from that moment of stupid desire into the future.

'Graham,' she whispered, her voice returning to its basic form, a version of itself that reminded her of being ten years old. She rested her feet on the ground, stopped herself from floating. He was no longer against her, no longer pushing her up against the wall.

'Your dad's gonna sack me if he knows we did this, he can't know alright?' Graham demanded, replacing his shorts and climbing out of the pool.

'I,' Katie whispered, unable to move from her spot beside the steps. 'I've never done that before.'

'Shagged someone?' he groaned. 'Christ, then we're never discussing this again.'

'No, done this, a one off…in a swimming pool.'

'It's no big deal babe, lets face it, I'm irresistible,' he grinned, reaching for his towel and drying himself off.

The big headed, self absorbed comments only fuelled the pain of what Katie had done. She hated him for letting it happen, hated that she wasn't powerless in the situation. She replaced her own suit, climbed out after him and reached for her own towel. She turned her back to him, couldn't even look in his direction.

'That's how I like to work out all the ladies,' he winked, sliding a hand into the front of his shorts. 'Never done it in the pool though.'

Sick. It was sick. Katie had been upset, had been looking for some way of making the suffering go away. What she hadn't been looking for was sex with a near stranger, or someone to take advantage. Yet he didn't take advantage, not really. She let it happen. She made the first move by stopping his swimming. Tears formed, forced her to give in to the quiet sobs that seemed adamant to escape.

'Oh fuck,' he groaned, staring at her back with nothing but frustration and anger. 'Don't be such a fucking pussy about it. Shit happens.'

'You fucking arsehole,' she cried out, taking the few steps closer to him in order to smack him hard across the chest, pummelling into him like a punch bag. He took it, a smirk spread across his face whilst he pushed her to a distance.

'Cool off, yeah? You're fit, but you ain't anything special.'

_'You are the most special girl in this world,' JJ once told her after sex._

It dug into her heart, picking away at the feelings she thought she didn't have for JJ. She was wrong. Graham made her see she was wrong. The tears didn't stop, only got worse until she fled the pool for the changing rooms, changed as quickly as possible and headed for the entrance. She loved Jonah, she was sure now. More sure than she'd ever thought she would be again. The irony didn't escape her attention; the mistake helping her to see the love that was staring her straight in the face, yet that same mistake was probably going to rip out her heart and leave her gasping for breath. The distraction became a curse when she collided with someone, the last time that happened painfully remembered until she stared up into eyes identical to her own. Brown, a little lost and most certainly Emily's.

'Katie?'

*

Life was better. Emily told herself. She didn't need to be horrible to Katie, not anymore. She could try to be civil at least. After all, Katie had come after her when she was crying. Emily watched her sister push past her and run down the steps outside. She followed, after a brief hesitation.

'Katie, wait.'

'Fuck off,' Katie snapped back to her.

'What?' Emily gasped. 'You don't talk like that, I'm the shitty one. Just stop, please.'

Katie turned around, her eyes swollen and red, her cheeks stained with tears. 'Just leave me alone, you don't care about me, you've never cared. So fuck off.'

'Wait,' Emily tried again, reaching a hand out to Katie's shoulder.

She recoiled, sank onto the steps at Emily's touch. Emily sat down beside her, wasn't sure why she was even there when Katie had rejected her. It was different. It wasn't the same tense atmosphere it usually was, Emily didn't feel like being competitive or angry. She just worried.

'What's wrong Katie?'

'Nothing,' the words came out as chokes, faltered by tears. Emily rested a hand back onto Katie's shoulder, let it stay for as long as Katie would let it.

'It's okay,' she tried to comfort, squeezing her shoulder.

'I fucked up,' Katie admitted, pushing the continual flow of tears from her cheeks. 'It's all a mess, it's just a big mess.'

There was no point trying to pretend that Emily had any idea what Katie was talking about. She knew little of her life, something she realised wasn't fair when Katie knew so much of her own.

'What happened?'

'I can't,' Katie gasped. 'I can't, it's too horrible.'

Emily pondered Katie's response. Let the words repeat in her mind until she'd processed them. 'I tried to kill myself about twelve months ago. I had to see a counsellor and I learnt that nothing is too horrible because everything can be worked through. In the end. I struggle to remember that sometimes, like just before Christmas, but things are coming good again.'

Katie's blotchy face turned up to Emily's, her eyes sunken low with regret and sorrow. 'Y, you really tried to do that?'

Emily nodded. 'Whatever is going on, you're stronger than me Katie. You can be okay.'

Words were mostly obsolete. Katie let a tiny smile out, which gave Emily hope. The thing, whatever it was, wasn't perfect. They weren't best friends, they weren't even just friends. They were barely sisters. But whatever it was, had hope. Emily had never really allowed herself to care before.

'I need to go home,' Katie sighed, wiping her face again.

'Are you sure? Dad and I are going for dinner if you want to come.'

Katie shook her head. 'I need to go home.'

She looked broken as she walked away. Emily watched, felt her heart swell in ways it never had before for Katie. She'd put her on a pedestal that she'd despised. Watched her getting on with life, figured that everything was perfect for her sister. The one thing she'd never realised was that Katie wasn't perfect, no matter how much she appeared to be. A hand resting on her shoulder pulled Emily from her thoughts, she smiled up at her dad.

'Where's Katie going? I said she could join us.'

'She went home.'

Rob sighed, 'Emily!'

'It wasn't me dad,' she assured him. 'She wasn't feeling very well. She had a headache or something. I promise.'

'Okay, guess it's just you and me kid.'

**Chapter Five Voting Options:**

Naomily 1: Naomi and Emily's group assignment changes their relationship once again.

Naomily 2: Naomi's improved relationship with her mother makes her rethink her current relationship decisions.

Katie 1: Katie decides to keep what happened a secret.

Katie 2: Katie decided to tell JJ that she cheated on him.

**TO HAVE YOUR SAY, REVIEW WITH YOUR CHOICES!**


	6. Chapter 6: Time That I Believe

**Disclaimer****: I do not own Skins, please don't rub it in. :-( Especially now that series 4 has started.**

**Author Note****: 2 weeks left of my job, which means I will probably be able to update a lot more and quicker when it's finished. I'm not used to this time management thing, so I'm sorry it's taken a while to get this up. I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

**Carry Me Away**

_Chapter Six: Time That I Believe_

The clock on the kitchen wall ticked slowly, each movement of the hands reverberating in her ear. A half eaten sandwich lay abandoned on a plate a foot away, Katie's elbows resting against the surface. She lowered her face into her hands, wondered when her life had become uncontrollably unravelled. She couldn't face JJ. The guilt was undeniable. He called frequently, left messages often and acted like she was only busy and not ignoring him at all costs.

'Katie, someone's here to see you,' Jenna's voice called through the house, pulling her head upwards as the face she didn't want to see appeared in the doorway.

'Jonah.'

'I thought you might be ill,' he whispered, holding out a small bouquet of red gardenias which she accepted with caution.

'I'm okay,' she assured him, filling a vase with water. 'Thank you, they're beautiful. They're my,'

'Favourites,' he interrupted with a knowing smile. 'That's why I chose them.'

The expectant look in his eyes only sought panic as guilt consumed her. She couldn't bare the strength of feeling. She _loved _him, really loved him. Yet she'd betrayed him in the worst possible way. It was easier when he wasn't there, when she could hide in the house and not have to face anything. But now he was there, standing opposite her, having infiltrated her safe haven.

'You haven't answered any of my calls,' he noted, perching on the edge of a stool with a frown.

'I, I've been busy,' she informed him, knowing the lie that came from her lips was only contributing to the betrayal.

He reached a hand out, pulled her closer without her permission. 'I've missed you.'

'I've missed you too,' she responded, ungripping her fingers from his hand. 'I'm sorry.'

She _had _missed him, that wasn't a lie and she _was _sorry. He looked at her warily, conscious of her rejection of his touch. He watched her face, tried to place the fast movement of her eyes, couldn't understand why she appeared so fraught.

'You can tell me anything, you know that, right?' he reminded her, reaching a hand out to her shoulder, which she allowed to stay.

'I know,' she nodded, allowing JJ's hands to slide around her waist, pulling her into a tight hug which she graciously sank into.

It hurt to be so close to him, yet still felt like the most natural thing in the world. Her breath caught in her throat, sent her body into a period of gentle shakes until JJ finally pulled away.

'I can't stay, mum's cooking and gran's coming over for dinner. I should go help chop carrots or something. I'll see you tomorrow at college.'

A tiny smile was the only response Katie could give, he left the room hastily, looking anything but comfortable with the exchange of conversation. He _knew_. She could tell it. She didn't know what he knew, but she knew he knew something was wrong. Her mind raced, her body shook harder until she was forced to sit down. The door made a noise as it closed behind him, her throat growing dry. She tried to take deep breaths, tried to manage her gasps until she could finally distract herself long enough to calm down.

*

A vegetable casserole was cooking in the oven, two plates placed in their positions, glasses and cutlery joining them. Even napkins, which they only used on rare occasions and a bottle of wine which they drank every week. The kitchen was perfect, Naomi decided. She sat down in one seat, filled her glass with the red liquid and sipped on it. She stared up at the clock, tried to time Gina's arrival perfectly so that the food would be cooked, yet not overcooked. She'd never been to so much effort before, not even on her birthdays when really she should have.

She noted her mistakes as a daughter. Forgetting to wash her mothers conservative suit the day before she had jury duty, losing track of the hours with an old friend when she was thirteen and turning up at home six hours late to find the police had arrived. Even her constant lonely moods she'd lost herself in through the years. Gina had been there through it all, had done it all with a smile because they were the good times. Even if Naomi had messed up. She couldn't count the number of times Gina had held her in her arms even though she'd done something that most parents would ground her for.

Then there were the bad times; when Gina spent weeks in bed, or washed her clothes in the detergent that made her itch, and the amount of times she hadn't turned up to school to pick her up, so she had to walk home alone. She shouted and got angry because it was what she did. But Gina just took it, accepted her blame and Naomi didn't once question why it continued to happen.

'Mum, where are you?' Naomi muttered into the phone, watching as an hour passed, wondering where her usually early home mother could be.

Eventually, two hours late, with a dried up casserole sat on the hob, Gina walked through the door.

'Where were you?' Naomi asked, her tone a little harsher than she knew it should be.

'I was at Rob and Emily's, I tried to call but you didn't answer your mobile.'

'I left it upstairs.'

Naomi stood up, looked up at Gina with down turned eyes. She wanted to get mad and shout, but she couldn't. She had to remind herself why she was there, why she'd gone to the trouble of cooking her mother dinner in the first place.

'Oh, you made dinner. I'm sorry, if I'd known I'd have come straight home.'

'It's okay,' Naomi whispered, sitting back down and pouring two glasses of wine.

'How about we have dessert?' Gina offered, placing two slices of cake on the table.

The gesture cracked a smile onto Naomi's face. It wasn't much but it was something, anything to help break the ice that had struggled to melt. Naomi sat back down opposite her mum, sipped on her wine and tried a piece of the cake. She spat it out into her hand, coughing in regret of the food that touched her lips.

'That is disgusting,' she noted, pushing the rest of the pieces towards Gina.

'It can't be that bad, surely?' she asked, rolling her eyes at Naomi's incessant behaviour. She forked a piece of the cake into her mouth, reacting in a similar way to Naomi.

'Rob and his health food?' Naomi asked with a smirk.

'That man needs to try a piece of chocolate, next time he's round here we're putting sugar in his tea and telling him it's a new blend. He'll drink it, because he loves me.'

The smile that had found its home on Naomi's face grew wider, a contemplative grin that she didn't give up until Gina questioned her inane expression.

'I'm sorry.'

'And that makes you grin like next doors cat does it?' Gina asked, raising her eyebrows.

'I take you for granted,' Naomi whispered. 'You've always been there, you've always supported me even when I've done the wrong thing. I expect you to still be there and when you are it just makes me expect it even more.'

'I'm your mum, where else would I be?'

'Anywhere but here when I'm being a grumpy sod.'

'Now Naomi, I'm the one with the mood swings. Not you.'

Naomi took a deep breath, analysed her mother's face for a moment. 'Do you ever wonder if I have them too?'

Gina's eyes narrowed adamantly. 'No. Naomi, no. You don't, you won't.'

'I'm still sorry,' Naomi whispered. 'You're a nice person and I'm anything but.'

'Stop doing this Naomi,' Gina demanded, cupping Naomi's hand between hers. 'Stop beating yourself up. You are beautiful and smart and so, so special that sometimes I wonder how someone like me could produce someone this remarkable.'

'Mum!' Naomi rolled her eyes, turned her rosy red cheeks away.

'No, don't try to stop me Naomi. You are special whether you have the confidence to believe it or not.'

'You have to say that, you're my mum,' Naomi noted, grinding her teeth, her gaze still set away from Gina.

'I didn't say it because I have to, I chose to say it, you're my little girl. Except that you're a big girl now.'

The table disappeared quickly from between them, Naomi removing herself from her seat and wrapping her arms tightly around Gina's shoulders. She wanted to cry yet didn't want to shed any tears. Instead she squeezed her eyes together, imagined that her cheeks were covered in tears and pushed her face against her mum's shoulder.

*

There were only so many days Katie could stay off college, could get away with pretending to be sick, without arousing her mum's suspicions. Unfortunately with a weekend in between, any unwell feelings had two extra days to disappear. Monday morning arrived and Katie stood cautiously in the doorway to her form room. She didn't want to go in. The thought of facing JJ made her feel more ill than she had for the past few days. She leant against the wall, counting down from one to one hundred in the hope it would settle her nerves. She practiced the various ways of saying hello, greeting JJ in her head repeatedly until his voice almost seemed real.

'Hello Katie.'

'Oh,' she gasped, jumping out of her skin when she noticed him stood beside her. She automatically assumed he was already inside, hadn't thought to check that he might not yet have arrived. 'Hi.'

Her voice failed in its attempt to sound normal, all mock greetings disappeared into the abyss as reaction took over. The tiny word lingering with awkwardness in the air.

'Are you okay?' he asked, reaching out a finger to brush her hair back behind her ear. The feel of his touch on the sensitive patch of skin on her neck made her shiver. She smiled, couldn't avoid staring up into those beautiful eyes that always captured her attention. He leaned in, brushed his lips against hers. The addictive taste of his smell pulling her into a crushing passionate embrace, her fingers curling up into his hair.

She couldn't do it. She pushed him away, pulled back with tears in her eyes. It hurt to breath, it hurt to look at the confusion that was housed in those dazzling features.

'I slept with someone else,' she spoke, the words coming out clearly until the final one when she almost choked on gasps of breath and tears.

'What?'

'I was upset and I didn't know what to do and I went to the gym, I slept with someone who works there and I'm sorry. I regret it so much and if there's any way that I can make it up to you, please just tell me.'

The soft lines on JJ's face creased together harder, making him look older, wiser than his years. She could feel herself getting worked up, words still ranting from her lips like JJ when he got locked on. He shook his head, the reality of what had happened sinking in with dread and confusion.

'But you love me,' her whispered. 'People don't cheat when they love someone.'

'I'm sorry,' she tried again, tears flowing freely down her cheeks until she knew her face was a mess of red blotches. She was sorry, so sorry that she couldn't even put into words so much. 'I love you Jonah, I love you so much, please don't hate me,'

'I don't,' he whispered, interrupted before he could finish as Katie leant forwards, crashing their lips together, forcing him to accept the kiss for a moment before he pushed her away.

'Stop, you can't do this,' he cried out, moving a hand to his temple. He rubbed it, muttering words to himself, trying to calm himself down before he became locked on. It was coming, he could feel it coming faster than it ever had. He wasn't violent, not normally, but being locked on was another matter entirely. He wanted to hit, to kick, to punch anything around him. He pushed his hands together, rubbed his knuckles until Katie's glares were too hard to ignore.

'Leave me alone,' her mumbled, trying to stay calm.

'No, Jonah, please,' Katie begged, resting a hand on his arm. He stared down at her fingers, breathing heavily as they clenched tighter to his jumper.

'Get off me,' he snarled, petrified of how angry he was becoming.

'Jonah, I love you, I didn't do it to hurt you. Everything is changing. I didn't believe in us but now I do, now I know.'

'Get your fucking hands off me!' he screamed, pushing her away, unwrapping her fingers before he pushed her shoulder with as little force as he could.

'Jonah,' Katie tried again, not moving from her spot by the door.

'You fucking, you don't do that if you love someone. You don't cheat, you don't fucking cheat if you love someone. You don't do that, you don't fucking do that,' he muttered, his voice repeating over and again the same phrases, some angry, some calm. He was losing control, he could feel it happening, like he was watching himself from a distance. He started to scream out words, 'Cunt, fucking cunting cunt. Bastard, cunting fucking bastard.'

Katie recoiled, leant against the wall, fearful of JJ. She'd never seen him so worked up, had no idea what to do until the door of the classroom opened. Freddie and Cook came out, both looking around for JJ, taking him into their arms the second they saw him breaking apart. Katie couldn't stay, couldn't face the worried looks of her friends. So she ran.

*

The bicycle's wheels continued to spin for a moment whilst Naomi pushed it into the rack, securing it with a rusted old lock. Everyday she expected to come back and find the bike gone, yet was never surprised to see it still there. It wasn't a very old bike, but it was hardly the latest model that all the boys seemed to rave about back in school. She left it, as she usually did, thinking of her mother who once owned it before her. Things were changing again, for the better. Her life had taken a rollercoaster ride in recent months and she wondered if it was finally coming to a stop. The thought filled her mind, took over her conscious until she was almost knocked out by someone rushing past her. She turned around, through force, not desire and caught a flash of deep, dark hair that she recognised instantly. _Katie_. She did a double take, watched as she ran away from the college building. After a moments pause and the realisation that no one was going after her, Naomi picked up her feet and did the one thing she hated to do; run. Physically speaking, since she noted the irony in her love of running from the things that mattered in life.

'Katie!' she screamed out, following her through the opening of a small forest of trees towards a beaten up shed in disrepair. Katie stopped, rested her hands against the wooden frame before slamming her fist against it, then her other until she was banging on the door like a deranged woman locked on.

'Katie,' she whispered, resting a hand on Katie's back in the hope of calming her. At first it didn't work; she lashed out, let her hands fly as she spun around until Naomi's hands came down on her wrists, locking their eyes until Katie's breathing became the only noise and her chest heaving, the only movement.

'It's okay,' Naomi tried, reaching around her shoulders until her friend collapsed into her arms.

'It's not, it never will be.'

Once the tears had subsided and they sat on the dirt ground side by side, their backs resting against the wooden shed, they finally began to talk.

'Whatever's happened, you can tell me.'

'So you can go tell Emily?' Katie spat out, wiping her wet cheeks.

'No,' Naomi assured her. 'Katie, we're friends, even if you don't understand girls liking girls.'

A long deep breath calmed Katie down slightly, her eyes resting closed until the gentle breeze made her open them once more. She didn't deserve Naomi's friendship, just like she didn't deserve JJ's love. She wondered if she even deserved Emily as a sister.

'I cheated on Jonah.'

Naomi didn't speak, which made it harder for Katie to look up at her. She'd done enough things to push away her once friend that anything more made it harder to turn back. Yet Naomi's finger's still rested on Katie's between them on the dirt ground. She expected rejection and instead, got support.

'I don't deserve this,' she whispered, pulling her hand away and cupping it against her chest.

'Katie, everyone makes mistakes. It's obvious you're paying for it now.'

The opening of the gates sent everything flying out, the tears continued to fall but slower and words fell from her lips before she could control herself. 'Everything's such a mess. Jonah hates me, you hate me, even Emily hates me and always will.'

'Emily's struggling,' Naomi assured her, which only sought to contribute to her concerns.

'She'd be better off if I hadn't come into her life. If it wasn't for my dad, this wouldn't be happening. I have nothing else, if he wasn't here I could go back to Manchester and no one would miss me.'

'That's not true Katie,' Naomi sighed, moving her hand to Katie's shoulder. 'I'd miss you and I know that deep down Emily would too.'

Katie rolled her eyes. 'How would you know? You don't even talk to her anymore.'

'She's lonely Katie, she's just really lonely. I think she needs you and you need her, but it takes time. She's been through a lot.'

'Been through a lot,' Katie sighed. 'She's the one who's been through a lot.'

The words weren't supposed to sound bitter, yet that was how they came out. Katie swallowed the lump building in her throat, running her hands through the dirt beside her in a therapeutic fashion.

'Everyone's always worried about Emily, think she won't handle anything, that she needs looking after. What about me? When will anyone look after me?'

The claims were mostly unfounded, she knew that. Neither of her parents had acted like Emily was more fragile or needed more support, yet she still couldn't shed the feeling that she was the one they thought was okay. She wasn't okay, far from it.

'Maybe they think you're strong enough to handle it.'

'I'm not.'

*

Sometimes she still woke up in bed covered in sweat and on the odd occasion, urine. The inability to control her bladder at night only came when she was stressed, originally from the knowledge that she would have to go to school the next morning. Rob never knew because she always cleaned up after her mess. In the mornings she would strip her bed, spray Febreeze on the mattress and remake it. The soiled sheets hiding in her wardrobe until she got home from school and could wash them without him ever knowing. It happened everyday for two years. Sometimes she thought she had a bladder problem, weakness or something similar that made it happen all too often. She contemplated going to the doctor, until she realised that they would probably call her dad. After a bit of research on the internet, she discovered that stress could be a cause. By the time she turned sixteen she knew the doctor couldn't call her dad, but her research told her the doctor would probably ask if something was worrying her. So she never went.

'For fucks sake,' she muttered, tears creeping up on her when she realised how damp her sheets were. She wasn't in that place anymore, she didn't understand why it had happened. Aside from the oral assignment later that day, she didn't think that would produce nearly enough stress to cause the bedwetting.

She climbed out from under the covers, stripped them from the bed and pushed them into an old JD bag which she placed in her wardrobe. She didn't need to hide it anymore, but at seventeen, there was another level of embarrassment in wetting the bed. She showered, changed into clean clothes and covered herself in deodorant to hide the scent she was sure had gone yet she could still smell lingering in the air around her.

*

The door to the nurse's office wouldn't open when Naomi tried to push it, she tried again until a voice whispered something from the other side. It was familiar and so faint that Naomi suspected the person had been crying.

'Emily?'

'Naomi?'

'Yeah, it's me, let me in,' she muttered, resting a hand against the clouded glass.

The weight on the door shifted and the handle came down, allowing it to swing open. Naomi closed the door behind her, glancing around for the nurse who was supposed to be in there. She chewed on her lip, moved closer to Emily who had sat down on a chair, her head in her hands.

'What are you doing here Emily? Are you okay?'

'Erm,' she whispered. 'I had a panic attack in lesson.'

'Oh. What, what for?'

The question was stupid, which made Naomi regret it instantly. She perched on the edge of a table beside Emily, reached a hand out which she quickly retracted before it reached Emily's shoulder.

'What do you think?' Emily muttered, putting a folder onto the table from beside her chair.

Naomi picked it up, took a deep breath and nodded. 'The debate.'

'Why are you in here?' Emily asked, pushing the folder back into her bag and attempting to distract herself from the looming assignment just hours away.

'I think I twisted my wrist, I tripped up and landed awkwardly. If Katie hadn't ran into those woods by the playing field it never would have happened,' Naomi sighed, holding it carefully in her other hand.

'What happened?' Emily asked, looking worriedly at her.

'I think she needs a friend Emily.'

'You're her friend.'

'Yeah,' Naomi replied. 'I think she needs more people. Everyone knows you're not entirely happy, but Katie's lonely too. Maybe she needs you as much as you need her.'

'I don't need her.'

'You know that's not true, you're fucking lonely Emily. You always have been, even when you were friends with Effy, you didn't act like you really trusted her. You can trust Katie, you should at least try.'

Neither of them spoke. Naomi sat in silence, letting her legs swing against the legs of the table. She watched Emily, who stared down at the floor, her brow furrowing as though in thought. Her hands rested on her legs, her fingers pressed a little harder against her clothes. Naomi jumped down, pulled up a chair from across the room so that she could sit opposite Emily.

'What are you doing?' Emily asked, looking up.

'Don't,' Naomi told her, taking her hands into her own, linking their fingers.

Emily tilted her head back down. 'Thanks.'

'Don't look down,' Naomi muttered, moving one of her hands up to Emily's chin.

They shared a small smile, the light that rarely seemed to shine in Emily's eye lit up making Naomi's smile grow further. She'd fixed things with her mother, which lifted a weight from her shoulder. Katie was at least accepting her, even if she wasn't the happiest about it all. Things were better. Naomi's smile grew bigger, turned into a coy smirk that she tried to push away, unsuccessfully.

'What?' Emily asked, frowning at Naomi's eyes fixed on her.

She bit her lip. 'I,'

Naomi couldn't speak, her words failing her as she lifted herself out of the chair, reaching her hands around the back of Emily's head and forcing her tongue into her mouth. It felt right, it felt like the most natural thing to do as Emily kissed back.

'Oh,' Emily replied when they separated, her fingers resting on her lips. 'But the debate.'

A small laugh escaped Naomi's lips, she shook her head, holding Emily's hands again. 'It's going to be okay.'

'How do you know?'

'Because we're going to be okay,' Naomi sighed, pulling Emily into her arms and kissing her cheek, letting her lips press against the skin that led to her neck until they were kissing again, their hands wrapping tightly around each other.

'Don't mind me,' came a third voice, causing them to pull apart as the nurse closed the door behind her.

**Chapter Six Voting Options:**

Naomily 1: Naomi plans a special night with Emily, which is interrupted by a phone call.

Naomily 2: Naomi and Emily's relationship is tested when their parents' relationship shows cracks.

Katie 1: Katie struggles to be friendly when she is forced to spend time with Emily and Naomi.

Katie 2: Katie's problems are put into perspective when something major happens.

**TO HAVE YOUR SAY, REVIEW WITH YOUR CHOICES! OR TWEET YOUR CHOICES with #misspeg if you're on Twitter!  
**


	7. Chapter 7: Don't Tell Me That It's Over

**Disclaimer****: I do not own Skins, please don't rub it in. :-( Especially now that series 4 has started (and almost finished).**

**Author Note****: The last chapter said '2 weeks left of my job' which means it's been 2 weeks since I last posted. Gosh. I am sorry! My job is now over, I am now free to write as much as I please until I find some more work, which isn't looking promising for the next few weeks. I hope you enjoy this chapter, I've been waiting to write this one for a while now. Thanks for all the votes and reviews last chapter! Please vote and review again!**

* * *

**Carry Me Away**

_Chapter Seven: Don't Tell Me That It's Over_

'What have you got planned this evening love?' Gina asked whilst rearranging her hair in the hallway mirror.

'Emily's coming over,' Naomi muttered, half heartedly, her lip tucked carefully under her tooth.

'Emily?' Gina questioned, glancing at Naomi's reflection in the mirror.

'Yes, Emily, red hair not very tall. You're going out with her dad tonight,' Naomi replied. Sometimes she wondered if Gina even realised how blonde she sounded when she asked questions.

'Thank you for the information Naomi, but I do know who Emily is. I just didn't realise you two were spending any time together.'

'Well we are, so I'd appreciate it if you could hurry up so we can have some space.'

'Space?' Gina questioned, her eyes narrowing at her daughter.

'You're being very annoying, you know that?'

Gina turned to face Naomi, her hands out in query. Naomi rearranged her hair, gave it a gentle shake and ran her fingers through it until it looked neat. Rolling her eyes, she reached for one of Gina's earrings and held it up.

'They don't match.'

Removing the other earring, Gina placed them both on the windowsill. 'I'm just trying to establish what I should tell my boyfriend when he knows his daughter will be spending the evening alone with my daughter.'

'Is it so strange that we want to spend some time together?' Naomi didn't think so, she stood in front of the mirror, rearranging her own hair until she was satisfied with where it stayed.

'It is when you have a second shower, put on perfume and stand staring at your reflection like you actually care.'

The colour drained from Naomi's face, she took a step backwards, her wrist consciously travelling to her nose to check the smell, despite knowing she had put on some perfume.

'I was just, trying it,' Naomi stuttered, trailing off at the knowing expression on Gina's face.

'I'll be sure to take Rob back to his place, give you girls some extra space.'

The colour returned to Naomi's cheeks in full force, painting her in red. She stared at Gina aghast.

'Mum!'

'All I said was space,' Gina shrugged, staring back in the mirror in order to apply lipstick.

Naomi scoffed, 'I know what you said and I know what you mean.'

'Just be careful love.'

The lack of comfort in the situation left Naomi feeling out of place. She chewed on her lip, watched Gina finish tidying herself up before finding the only words she could to diffuse the tense situation.

'Yes mother, I'll be sure to wear a condom so I don't get her pregnant,' Naomi rolled her eyes.

'Don't be so impertinent Naomi,' Gina called out, shaking her head in dismay. 'Emily's been through a lot, I don't want her to get hurt.'

'And I'm the first person you think of when you think about Emily getting hurt, thanks!'

The lack of faith left Naomi a little doubtful. She'd waited for the moment with Emily and now that it was finally there, she wasn't sure she knew what to do with it. Nerves suddenly hit in a bout of sickness, her stomach tying itself up in knots. She walked away from the mirror, sitting down at the kitchen table to stop her knees from shaking.

'I don't want you to get hurt either Naomi,' Gina assured her, following her into the room. 'Which is why I want you to be careful. You've only just found your feet again after what happened last year.'

'I know what I'm doing,' Naomi assured her, the tone of her voice betraying a sentence that was only now seeming false.

'Well that's good to know I suppose,' Gina mumbled, smirking to herself.

'Mum!' Naomi gasped. 'Stop. Just stop.'

'It's hardly difficult though, is it? You just have to do to each other what you do to yourself, at least I assume you do it to yourself, the noises I sometimes hear from your room late at night.'

Naomi gritted her teeth, her cheeks maintaining colour as she burrowed her face in her hands. If she didn't think she might collapse with nerves, she would have marched right out of the room.

'Calm down dear,' Gina called after her. 'I'm just teasing.'

'It's really not funny.'

'Anyway, best be off,' Gina announced, slipping a jacket around her shoulders. 'We're going for a posh meal. There's some oil in the cupboard if you need some.'

'What?'

'Oil, to put on salad, we ran out and I bought some more.'

*

The floor moved beneath his feet. It knocked him off balance and he landed in the chair suddenly. Emily stared at him with narrowed eyes, concern etched on her brown orbs. He shook his head, rubbed the sweat from his brow and forced a smile.

'Shouldn't have worked out so hard,' he muttered.

'Are you okay dad?' Emily checked, placing a hand on his shoulder.

'I'm fine, fine,' Rob stuttered, holding a hand up in protest at her fussing. 'You know how to look after your old man, but I'm fine. Honest I am.'

'We could stay home if you're not well,' Emily tried.

But Rob wasn't willing to give in. He shook his head, had to take a few deep breaths in order to feel a little better. He loved how much Emily cared for him, her hand still resting on his shoulder.

'I'm glad you're happy love,' Rob assured her, patting her hand. 'Now you go and enjoy yourself. Don't worry about me, alright? In fact I request that you and Naomi enjoy yourselves tonight.'

'Okay,' Emily smiled, kissing his cheek.

*

Naomi's heart began to race. She turned briefly, checked her appearance in the hall mirror and pulled up her top around her front. She didn't want to look too desperate, yet wanted to make sure she captured Emily's attention. She unlatched the door. Another wave of nerves hitting her, she hesitated until the door moved against her. Emily attempted to open it from the other side.

'Sorry, I was just,' she muttered, letting the door open fully.

'That's, erm, okay, erm,' Emily replied, her eyes falling downwards upon Naomi's upper body. The desired reaction only made Naomi more nervous.

'I, do you, do you want to, come in,' Naomi offered, flustered by the attention she didn't fully expect to get.

'It depends on if you're going to jump me or not,' Emily smirked, her lips curling up in a way that made Naomi blush.

'I'm sorry, it's too much, I shouldn't have,' Naomi replied, trailing off as she tried to cover herself up with her arms.

'No,' Emily smiled, reaching a hand out and taking her wrists. 'You look, well, you look like you want _me _to jump _you_.'

Naomi bit her lip, stared Emily in the eye with a look of dread and worry. Her heart beat faster, her palms growing sweaty. She tried to swallow but a large lump seemed permanently lodged in her throat.

'I've never felt so nervous in my life,' she muttered, before regretting the words. 'Sorry, I shouldn't have said that.'

The only reaction was an insanely large grin on Emily's face. 'You're starting to sound like me before the debate, it's okay Naomi.'

'It's not, I've never, I've never done this.'

'We've had sex Naomi, I think tonight will be pretty much the same as that,' the frown on Emily's face turned to a smirk. 'At least that's what I was hoping for.'

'Yeah but I've never told anyone, I've never, I, never told, I lo,'

'I love you,' Emily filled in the blank when Naomi's voice trailed off, her lips quickly moving to Naomi's until the two of them were kissing.

'Oh,' Naomi replied, staring into deep brown eyes with a mixture of fear and love. 'I love you too.'

'There, that wasn't so hard now, was it?'

Naomi narrowed her eyebrows. 'Are you joking? My heart is beating so fast that I wonder if it's going to beat out of my chest.'

'I think I know how we can slow that down,' Emily whispered, her lips travelling back to Naomi's in a mixture of lips and tongues. Gentle, slow movements speeding up with desire. The stairs slipped out from under Naomi as Emily pushed her backwards, landing on top of her, her lips pressed against Naomi's neck.

'Stop,' Naomi sighed. 'I have plans.'

'What sort of plans?' Emily asked, not moving from the prison she had created for Naomi.

'Dinner, a DVD, a bit of romance.'

'Romance?' Emily grinned, pushing herself up to her feet, releasing Naomi. 'Don't think I want to miss that.'

'You're a lot feistier when you want to be,' Naomi pointed out, allowing Emily to help her to her feet.

'I think you'll find there's a lot you don't know about me.'

'As long as I can learn.'

'Maybe,' Emily grinned cheekily, turning around and walking off towards the kitchen, leaving Naomi taken aback by how the evening had already panned out.

'The kitchen is not for the guest,' Naomi noted, taking control when she spotted Emily making herself a drink. 'You should go into the lounge, what do you want?'

'A coke if you have some.'

'I thought you might go for that since that's the only drink I've seen you have in the last few days. I got some for you especially, so you'd better stick around.'

'Actually I was planning on leaving after I've had this. I'm feeling pretty tired.'

'Don't you dare! I ordered pizza and wedges, the best wedges you'll ever have from a fast food place.'

'Really? Can it even give South London's Arty's Pizza Place a run for its money?'

'Well, I'm not sure it could beat South London's whatever.'

'Just call it SLAPP, it's what everyone else does.'

'What a stupid name,' Naomi noted.

'And what is your wonderful Pizza restaurant called?'

'The leaning tower of Pizza,'

Emily rolled her eyes and scoffed. 'I don't know what's worse, that you said that without throwing up or that it is actually named that.'

'Just you wait until you taste it, you'll never laugh at its name again.'

'One day I'll take you to SLAPP and you'll take back this conversation.'

Naomi rolled her eyes, ushering Emily towards the lounge. 'Sure.'

*

The ambulance jerked about as they sped down the road. Gina's hand clenched tightly to Rob's, her attention turned to the worried expression on the paramedic's face. She silently begged to whatever may control the Earth, a sort of prayer for the man she loved.

'Robert Fitch, collapsed at a restaurant, suspected heart attack.'

Gina followed the trolley into the hospital room, didn't let go of Rob's hand, kept her fingers wrapped tightly around it. She continued to pray to something, anything to get him through.

'I'm sorry, but you're going to have to wait outside.'

A tall man with glasses ushered her into a corridor, a plain, white, depressing corridor. She longed for the comforting, warm red of her hallway or the yellow of her bedroom. Anything but blinds being closed and doors with signs on them.

'Emily,' she sighed, rushed back down the corridor in search of a pay phone. Eventually went outside in order to use her mobile, forgetting completely until she'd reached the exit, that she could have used it indoors.

*

A tongue was sliding into her mouth when Emily first thought she heard the phone. She pulled away, listened for a moment before being attacked again by Naomi's lips. Distracted by the passion, the desire that seemed to have grown between them.

'Didn't last long,' Emily moaned into a kiss, glancing at the opened DVD and the unopened pizza box.

'I need you,' Naomi gasped, working her way down Emily's exposed chest.

Emily closed her eyes, wrapped a hand through Naomi's hair, her other reaching for the waist of her skirt. It was a fumbled mess of hands and mouths exploring places they weren't used to going. Naomi's legs trapped Emily's hand between them, forcing her to continue her quest.

'Jesus fucking hell,' Naomi called out, her mouth beside Emily's ear, her lips pressing against her neck until she collapsed on top of her.

The plan was to relax, to watch a DVD, have a few drinks and enjoy the night. The next thing Naomi knew, she was on the floor, her back scraping against the rough carpet, Emily's hands clawing at the sides of her skirt.

'Is that the phone?' Emily asked, but her voice disappeared into a deep groan when Naomi pulled her on top of her. Their lips collided again, Naomi's teeth tugging at the edge of her lip.

Her voice came out in short gasps. 'They'll, call, back.'

'Please,' Emily cried out, wrapping her hands around Naomi's head, holding it in place in her lap. 'More, fuck, I fucking love you.'

Her vision grew blurred, her hips lifting off the floor, her fingers gripping tighter to Naomi's hair. Emily let out a loud moan, gasping for breath whilst Naomi's kisses travelled along her stomach, moving up to her lips. They kissed, their tongues playing together in their mouths as they wrapped themselves up in each other's arms. Emily's breathing slowed down gradually, until it returned to normal.

'Didn't think it's ever be that good,' Naomi whispered, her lips pressing a kiss against Emily's head, her words muffled by hair.

'Neither.'

A ringing, appearing louder, pulled the two of them out of their passionate embrace. Naomi sat up, turned to Emily with a concerned expression.

'I told you it was the phone,' Emily smiled, tugging Naomi back down when she tried to stand up. 'They'll call back.'

'They already did,' Naomi frowned, sliding a t-shirt over her shoulders and stepping into her underwear. She walked out of the room, stopping by the door to grin back at Emily. 'Don't go anywhere.'

There was no intention of leaving, ever again. Emily took a pillow from the sofa and lay back against it, allowing her eyes to close. Thoughts filled her conscious; Naomi's hands, Naomi's tongue, Naomi's _smell_.

'Emily fucking get changed.'

_Naomi's voice_. The panicked tone made Emily open her eyes, just in time to catch a t-shirt and bra being thrown at her. She sat up, did as Naomi said, before asking why.

'Emily,' Naomi's voice grew dark, her hands reaching out to Emily's. A sense of foreboding smashed apart the extremely happy mood.

Her voice came out tiny. 'What is it?'

'It's your dad, mum just called, he's in the hospital.'

*

When Emily and Naomi arrived Gina felt worse. She wrapped her arms tightly around her daughter, thankful for her life once again. Then she turned to Emily, pulled her into an even tighter hug. She was worried, not just about Rob, but about what would happen to Emily if he wasn't okay.

'Where is he?' Naomi asked, sliding an arm around Emily's waist when Gina pulled away.

'He's in the room,' Gina pointed across the corridor. 'They said we might be able to see him soon.'

Emily looked up into Gina's eyes, watery layers covering her own. 'Katie?'

'I've called her,' Gina assured her, reaching a hand out to squeeze Emily's.

After ten tense minutes, the three of them sat side by side, a doctor emerged from the room. Emily was the first to stand up, dragging Naomi to her feet beside her. Gina took a deep breath, had to find every inch of courage to join them.

'He's stable,' the doctor spoke. 'You can go in and see him, but only for a moment.'

Emily followed him into the room, not looking back for asking for permission. The two Campbells followed after, staying a step behind to allow Emily access to her father.

'Oh God,' Emily gasped, leaning against the bed to steady herself. Naomi stepped over, wrapped an arm around her waist to support her. She let her head fall against Naomi's shoulder.

Naomi stroked her cheek with her hand. 'It's going to be okay.'

A loud groan came from Rob. Gina moved up the other side of the bed, took his hand and perched on the edge of the bed. The three of them gathered around as Rob opened his eyes slightly, tugging the oxygen mask from his mouth in order to speak.

'Jenna?'

'I should go and find a doctor,' Gina muttered, betrayal disappearing from her face quicker than she could walk across the room towards the door.

'Daddy,' Emily cried out, removing herself from Naomi's side in order to reach out for Rob's hand. She stepped as close as she could, wrapped her arms around his shoulders and cried against his neck.

*

The doctor entered the room. Emily leaning against Naomi's side as they walked out. Naomi let a sympathetic smile creep onto her lips when she caught Katie's eye across the corridor. Katie stood up, Jenna stepping forwards beside her.

'Is he okay? Gina said he'd woken up? This is well bad.'

'He's stable,' Naomi whispered after realising Emily wasn't going to speak. 'That's what they said before he woke up.'

'Do you think they'll let me see him?' Katie asked her mother, looking to her for the answers.

Tuning voices out, Emily took tentative steps towards the chairs. She couldn't stand up any longer. She sat down, pulled Naomi down with her, wrapping her arms around her waist so that her head could rest on her shoulder. Naomi sighed, followed her lead and pulled her in tight.

'What the fuck?' Katie snapped when Jenna was out of earshot. She stood in front of Naomi and Emily, her eyes narrowing with confusion.

Naomi ran her fingers along Emily's cheek. 'We're together, okay?'

'Oh fantastic,' Katie groaned, sitting down.

They looked happy. No matter how angry, or annoyed Katie was feeling about the situation, she still couldn't help notice how much they obviously cared for each other. She watched Naomi place a kiss on top of Emily's head.

She rolled her eyes. 'Do you mind?'

'No, I don't,' Naomi replied, shaking her head.

They'd fixed things, they'd worked towards something that wasn't bad and Katie had been thankful. She felt the hard work pulled to shreds as she watched Emily and Naomi together. She felt sick and not because of her sister and Naomi. She felt guilty, again. She felt angry that she'd broken up the only relationship she'd ever had. But mostly, she was heartbroken because she'd let herself down.

'I don't want to have to watch this,' Katie snapped.

Naomi sighed. 'Katie, Rob's ill, can you at least be nice? For him?'

Could she? She wasn't sure. She didn't want to be there and not because of Rob. She _needed _to be there because of him. But she didn't want to be there beside her supposed friend and sister. She couldn't let it go, knew she had to, but had trouble actually doing it. In the end she distracted her thoughts, tried to focus on her dad instead. She'd only just found him again, the thought of losing him was too much to bare.

'We can go see him,' Jenna announced, reaching a hand out for Katie to take. She smiled, took it and followed her towards the room.

*

Gina was sitting with a cigarette in her hand when Naomi approached her. She took it off her, broke it in half and threw it to the floor. Gina looked at her in protest, but stayed silent.

'Don't be fucking stupid mother.'

'What do you want?' Gina asked.

'Emily's going to come back to ours, to stay while Rob's in here,' she sighed, leaning against the wall and wishing she hadn't broken the cigarette. 'Don't have any more, do you?'

'Don't be fucking stupid Naomi,' Gina mimicked.

Naomi rolled her eyes and fished through her pockets, which she knew were empty. She had to do something, anything to avoid the tension she could feel beginning to blanket them.

Gina finally spoke again, 'She can't.'

'Why not?' Naomi gasped.

'I'm not her mum Naomi, her mum is upstairs with her dad. She should be with her.'

The tone of Gina's voice reminded Naomi of something, she couldn't place it, but knew it wasn't positive. She chewed on her lip, dug her tooth a little deeper into the skin, then stopped. A distant reminder to make sure Emily wasn't doing the same with her fingers set alarm bells off in her mind. Every other thought falling out of her head.

'Tell that to Emily, she needs us mum. We have to let her come to ours.'

Gina followed her back into the hospital and up to the ward where Rob was now sleeping. Jenna and Katie talked to the doctor, whilst Gina sat down on a chair.

'Well?' Emily asked, wrapping her arms around Naomi's body.

'I'm sorry, she said no.'

Tears immediately slid down Emily's cheeks. 'But, I, Naomi.'

'Mum,' Naomi tried again, begging her with her voice.

'You should be with your family,' Gina muttered, her voice tired.

'Please,' Emily begged, wiping her eyes.

Jenna interrupted the discussion. 'You can come and stay with us.'

'I don't want to,' Emily gasped. 'I want to stay with Gina.'

Gina's voice grew stronger and louder, her tone changing from its usual cheery self to hard and cold. 'You fucking can't.'

'I don't have anywhere else to go,' Emily cried out, holding onto Naomi's wrists. 'Please Naomi.'

'I'm sorry,' Naomi sighed, distracted by her mother's head resting in her hands. 'I'm sorry.'

**Chapter Seven Voting Options:**

Naomi 1: Naomi struggles to handle Gina's mood swings.

Naomi 2: Naomi can't rid her anger at Gina not letting Emily stay.

Twin 1: Emily rejects Jenna's over-friendly attention whilst Katie struggles to be nice to their new house guest.

Twin 2: Emily and Katie come to an understanding that changes their relationship for the better.

**TO HAVE YOUR SAY, REVIEW WITH YOUR CHOICES! Or if you're on Twitter send your votes to miss_peg**


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